5 Questions With… Leo Dierckman and Michael Richman

The Federal Reserve will come under new leadership in 2018 as Chair Janet Yellen heads for retirement. The move comes at a time when central bankers are reducing a $4.5 trillion balance sheet and normalizing short‐term interest rates that have hovered near zero since 2006.

The makeup of the Federal Open Market Committee will also change significantly with four vacancies for the president to fill to round out the Board of Governors. Meanwhile, the Fed is expected to raise rates at its December meeting—its third interest‐rate hike in the last year—as economic expansion continues to take hold and more unemployed Americans are going back to work.

In the following interview, Leo and Michael, who manage the OIM Corporate Core Plus strategy*—recently named to Informa’s PSN Top Guns list for the third straight quarter—will preview the upcoming FOMC meeting and provide insight on what they think Powell’s Fed will look like. They will also discuss the potential implications of Fed tightening for today’s bond investors, risks to watch out for in 2018 and where they’re uncovering attractive opportunities in the taxable bond market.

Read the Q&A

Disclaimer

* Informa’s quarterly ranking recognizes the top 10 performers—before fees—within various asset class peer groups. The Informa peer group was created using the information collected through the PSN investment manager questionnaire and uses only gross of fee returns. PSN Top Guns investment managers must claim that they are Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®) compliant. These top performers are strictly based on quarterly returns. While the OIM Corporate Core Plus strategy is only available to institutional investors, retail clients can access the team’s expertise through Oppenheimer Investment Advisers. To learn more about the Corporate Core Plus strategy, view the product profile. For more information on our fixed‐income strategies, please visit Opco.com.

© 2017 Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. This commentary is intended for informational purposes only. The information and statistical data contained herein have been obtained from sources we believe to be reliable. Oppenheimer Investment Advisers (OIA) is a division of Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Oppenheimer Investment Management is a subsidiary of Oppenheimer Asset Management. The opinions expressed are those of Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. (“OAM”) and its affiliates and are subject to change without notice. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission of OAM or any of its affiliates. Any securities discussed should not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell and there is no guarantee that these securities will be held for a client’s account nor should it be assumed that they were or will be profitable.

Past performance does not guarantee future comparable results. Special Risks of Fixed Income Securities ‐there is a risk that
the price of these securities will go down as interest rates rise. Another risk of fixed income securities is credit risk, which is
the risk that an issuer of a bond will not be able to make principal and interest payments on time. Neither OAM nor its
affiliates offer tax advice. OAM is a wholly owned subsidiary of Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. which also wholly owns
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. (“Oppenheimer”), a registered broker/dealer and investment adviser. Securities are offered through
Oppenheimer and will not be insured by the FDIC or other similar deposit insurance, will not be deposits or other obligations of Oppenheimer or guaranteed by any bank or other financial institution, will not be endorsed or guaranteed by Oppenheimer and will be subject to investment risks, including the possible loss of principle invested. 1962253.1