“We’re not finding one asset class opportunity that is severely mispriced or offering a slam dunk kind of investment entry point,” said Anders Persson, chief investment officer and head of Global Fixed income at Nuveen. “It’s not a market where you can go all in on a particular asset class.”

He predicted that the income and carry type of investments will drive returns for the rest of the year. Other areas of opportunity include high yield investment vehicles such as leveraged loans or investments in the energy space. 

One area that Persson said is particularly overlooked by investors is mortgage-backed securities. With mortgage rates increasing and limited supply, the pressure for pre-payments is significant.

“If you know what to look for there are opportunities,” Persson said. “There are opportunities in virtually every asset class.”

There are also opportunities in the environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) sector, said Steve Liberatore, head of ESG and impact for Global Fixed Income at Nuveen.

“We’re trying to address the ability to direct capital in a way to reduce the cost of capital for a certain project, pools of assets, and technology that allow for a continued increase in the sustainability of the overall global economy,” he said.

Investments in solar are huge because it is a misunderstood and under-reported market, said Liberatore. Other areas include investments that have positive impacts on local economies.

Liberatore highlighted the Wildlife Conservation Bond, which helps protect black rhinos in South African parks.

While helping the animals survive, he said that these apex predators also manage to improve the land they live on thus improving the quality of these parks so they can be used for tourism and provide employment for local populations.

Other opportunities across Nuveen’s investment platform include higher quality and longer duration offerings in the municipal space, according to John Miller, head of Municipal at Nuveen. The length of the duration refers to either the curve or the coupons that local and state municipalities issue. Miller said that growing fears of a recession will help feed the need for these types of investment vehicles.

Emerging markets have been an area that has had its own levels of trials and tribulations, according to Anupam Damani, head of International and Emerging Markets Debt at Nuveen.

“The economy is going through so many shocks,” she said. “When that happens, it makes sense to take stock.”

To do that she looked at three different emerging market attributes: where they came from, how far they have come, and how much further they can expect to go.

Damani said that at the start of the year, many central banks were not putting a lot of investment toward emerging markets, although she pointed out that regions have been ahead of other markets when it comes to the tightening schedule in response to the troubled economy. In terms of the progress these markets can hope to make, there have been positives.

“The risk-reward looks better now than it did at the beginning of the year,” she said.

Looking ahead there are a number of uncertainties within the global economy. There is still concern that a recession could hit. Persson speculated that if a recession does hit, it will be a minor one. The Federal Reserve is another matter, as it recently increased interest rates by 75 basis points. 

Nuveen is expecting a similar bump at the Fed’s next meeting and bracing for increases beyond that of 50, 25, and 25 later this year and into early 2023, although monetary policy is never set in stone. 

“It has been a moving target and difficult to nail down,” Persson said. “The market has been doing a good job to force the Fed to act.”