Don’t Blame the Fed for High Interest Rates

Annex’s Jacobsen discusses the outlook for interest rates.

Higher bond yields may be here to stay, but don’t blame the Fed for causing them. In this episode of Talk ETFs, Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management, sits down with etf.com Senior Analyst Sumit Roy to discuss the causes of high interest rates and what they mean for the stock and bond markets. 

Jacobsen doesn’t believe that the “higher for longer” narrative regarding the federal funds rate is the sole cause of the recent surge in bond yields, though it is a “contributing factor.”  

"The big move up in bond yields really occurred at the end of July after the Treasury announced that they were going to be issuing a lot more longer-dated debt than a lot of people were expecting. It really focused investors’ attention on the size of deficits,” Jacobsen explained.  

As chief economist, Brian provides insight and leadership to Annex’s clients and its investment committee, which guides client portfolio construction and investment philosophy. An accomplished writer and speaker, Brian’s perspective and expertise have been featured nationally on networks like CNBC and Bloomberg. He has also appeared on Annex’s “Money Talk” weekly radio program in the past.