‘I shouldn’t really be saying this… but I have no idea what investors are doing buying’

Send us Fan MailA number of senior bond bankers in Europe’s corporate bond market cannot for figure out why investors are buying what they have to sell.With US inflation above expectations this week suggesting central banks could be about to raise interest rates imminently, yet again, some bankers are having a hard time figuring out why you’d buy anything now that you could buy at a much better yield by waiting a couple of weeks.We explain how deals are getting done in such a volatile market and what is driving investors into the market when they know bigger returns could be had by waiting.We also look at what a fresh round of investment banking job cuts in the US might bring and whether there are in fact signs of hope that suggest the cuts might not be that severe.Finally, we talk about the drive to get bankers back to the office. It could be a handy way to prune excess staffing numbers as those who crave flexibility leave the industry but, as we discover, balancing what is best for the business with what is best for the people that make it happen is far from a settled issue.