Jim Lydotes flips the timer on 1) packaging companies’ pricing power, 2) consolidation in utilities, 3) Voya’s Grassroots Research on college recruitment in the AI era.

Highlights from the week of May 8 – May 14, 2026.

Private assets have an important role in enhancing long-term Defined Contribution retirement outcomes.

While major prepayment models produce reasonable forecasts for broad segments of the mortgage market, they often have shortcomings. This is how Voya’s mortgage derivatives team exploited one structural misvaluation.

Jim Lydotes flips the timer on 1) small cap capex, 2) Voya’s Grassroots Research® on cyber spending, 3) an interesting setup for specialty chemicals.

Having trouble remembering the difference between a CDR and a CRT? We’re here to help.

As sponsors confront volatile oil prices and geopolitical risk, here’s a look at what does (and doesn’t) work.

An energy shock, sticky inflation, and fractured global policy have made the path forward less forgiving. With growth slowing but not breaking, we focus on quality, diversification, and disciplined positioning as the margin for error narrows.

Markets are being tested on several fronts at once. But the important question is how these shocks travel—through inflation, monetary policy, funding conditions, or issuer fundamentals. That’s where resilience begins to diverge.

Jim Lydotes covers: 1) how health care is stabilizing, 2) why used cars could be an inflation indicator, and 3) why AI spending could crowd out hiring.