Bondcast - The Rates Podcast
In this weekly podcast series, Imogen Bachra along with the NatWest Markets team of rates & markets specialists help investment professionals shape their portfolio views on fixed income, learn how the biggest themes, trends, and events affect bond performance, and get deeper insight into rates markets including the latest analysis & research from the NatWest team.
Episodes
237 episodes
The Week Ahead: 21 – 25 September '26
Imogen Bachra shares her take on to watch in the week commencing 21 September. Fed speakers take centre stageA full slate of Federal Reserve speakers will provide further insight following this week’s more hawkish-th...
Liked a hike, sold on a hold, and cute on QT
The Federal Reserve and Bank of England have both been in focus this week, with the Fed delivering a rate hike and the BoE keeping rates unchanged. In this episode, Imogen Bachra and Stuart Sparks examine what the decisions tell us about the ou...
The Week Ahead: 14 – 18 September '26
Imogen Bachra shares her take on to watch in the week commencing 14th of September. * Friday's US inflation data was sufficiently firm that it feels like a 25 basis point hike from the Fed next week looks like the path of least resi...
Hawks, hikes and holds as central banks face inflation
This week on Bondcast, Imogen Bachra is joined by market specialists Stuart Sparks and Oriane Parmentier to discuss the latest developments across the major central banks and what they could mean for rates markets.Recorded shortly after ...
Speakers' Corner: Is AI really inflationary?
In this episode of Bondcast: Speakers’ Corner, host Imogen Bachra speaks to Deepika Dayal about one of the key questions surrounding the AI boom: will artificial intelligence ultimately be inflationary or disinflationary?Deepika explain...
The Week Ahead: 07 – 11 September '26
Imogen Bachra shares her quick take on the big themes and events likely to move markets over the coming week: US market focus is squarely on the inflation data. Fed Chair Warsh clearly overweighted the inflation data relative t...
The Fed's inflation trap
In Bondcast's 250th episode, Imogen Bachra is joined by market specialists Stuart Sparks and Oriane Parmentier to assess a more eventful-than-expected Jackson Hole, the outlook for the Fed, next week’s ECB meeting and the latest move in gilt yi...
The Week Ahead: 31 August – 4 September '26
Imogen Bachra shares her quick take on the big themes and events likely to move markets over the coming week:* US jobs data takes a backseat: Non-farm payrolls remains important, but the market may react less dramatically following a mor...
Treasury buybacks, fiscal risks and long-end Kryptonite
The US Treasury’s surprise decision to double the size of its regular long-end bond buybacks has reignited debate about how governments can manage rising borrowing needs and weaker demand for longer-dated debt.In this episode, Imogen Bac...
The Week Ahead: 24 – 28 August
Imogen Bachra shares her quick take on the big themes and events likely to move markets over the coming week. Top on the agenda is Jackson Hole, where Fed Chair Warsh’s speech will be watched for signals on rates, term premium and the Fed’s res...
Speakers' Corner: What to make of the 2026 energy price shock?
The latest escalation in the Middle East has reignited concerns over higher energy prices, inflation and the outlook for UK growth. But is this shock really comparable to the energy crisis that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022?...
Bondcast Speakers' Corner: AI, productivity and market risk
In this edition of Bondcast: Speakers’ Corner, Imogen Bachra is joined by NatWest Director of Innovation, David Greenwald, to explore one of the defining market themes of 2026: artificial intelligence. The discussion examines whether markets ar...
The Week Ahead: 20 – 24 July
In this new series of Bondcast Week Ahead, Imogen Bachra shares her thoughts on what's moving markets in the coming five days.
Higher oil prices again, but what next for rates?
In this week’s episode, Imogen Bachra is joined by Stuart Sparks and Giovanni Zanni to discuss what recent events mean for rates markets.Fresh tensions in the Middle East have pushed oil prices higher once again, forcing markets to reass...
Bondcast Speakers' Corner: Geopolitics and markets in summer '26
In this special edition of Bondcast Speakers' Corner, Imogen Bachra is joined by NatWest Group International Advisor Scott Livingstone to examine the geopolitical landscape and what it could mean for rates markets over the months and years ahea...
The Week Ahead: 13 – 17 July
Imogen Bachra looks ahead to a week shaped by renewed Middle East risk, key US inflation data, Chair Warsh’s testimony, UK political uncertainty, and the start of earnings season.Key takeawaysMarkets may need to price ...
Are markets too quick to price more rate hikes?
Oil prices are back in focus, markets are repricing central bank risk, and politics is adding another layer of uncertainty across Europe and the UK. In this episode of Bondcast, Imogen Bachra, Deepika Dayal and Oriane Parmentier discuss whether...
Speakers' Corner: Are markets too optimistic on oil and global shipping?
Oil prices have retraced to pre-conflict levels following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and the reopening of the Strait. But does that rebound accurately reflect what’s happening in the real economy?In this special ...
The Week Ahead: 6 July – 10 July 2026
Imogen Bachra shares her quick take on the big themes and events likely to move markets over the coming week. It’s a lighter but still market-moving calendar, with UK and French political risks, the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee ...
A deceptively important week for rates markets
This week on Bondcast, Imogen Bachra, Ian Vanderhorn, and Oriane Parmentier unpack a deceptively important week for rates markets: a mixed US labour report, softer European inflation, central-bank caution at Sintra, and growing focus on the Ban...
Speakers' Corner: Leverage ratios, gilt demand and the future of UK funding
In the first episode of Bondcast Speakers’ Corner, host Imogen Bachra is joined by James Bucknall and Iain Budge to discuss one of the most closely watched regulatory topics in UK rates markets: the leverage ratio framework.With the UK ...
The Week Ahead (29 June - 3 July '26)
In this new series of Bondcast Week Ahead, Imogen Bachra shares her thoughts on what's moving markets in the coming five days.
Peak optimism and calm markets
This week on Bondcast, Imogen Bachra is joined by Oriane Palmentier to discuss rates markets in the UK and Europe.Key topics: * The sharp repricing lower in UK gilt yields and evolving Bank of England expectations* Whe...