The bank also noted that global deflationary fears, as implied by SocGen’s newsflow indicator, had recently hit all time highs. Bokobza argued that deflation fears were at an “extreme level,” Bloomberg reported.
With deflationary concerns at all time highs, contrarian investors may be turning to TIPS to get a head start on rising inflation around the corner.
Treasury inflation-protected securities, or TIPS, are a type of Treasury security that is indexed to inflation as a way to shield investors from the negative effects of inflation. The securities’ par value rises with inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index while interest rate remains fixed. Investors would typically acquire TIPS ahead of rising inflation to capitalize on the debt securities adjustments in a rising CPI. TIPS also offer investors another layer of diversification as many aggregate bond funds exclude TIPS from their holdings.
iShares TIPS Bond ETF