Hedge fund manager Boaz Weinstein expects bumpy markets

By Nell Mackenzie

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager Boaz Weinstein said on Thursday that U.S. corporate bond markets could be set for a bumpy ride in the months ahead.

Since U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on U.S. imports on April 2, credit spreads, which are the premium companies paid on bonds over Treasuries, have widened sharply.

U.S. investment-grade spreads closed Wednesday at 108 basis points, according to an ICE BofA index .MERC0A0, having hit their widest since November 2023 at nearly 120 bps in early April, but were still far higher than in March.

"I think credit is still incredibly mispriced, even if Trump backs off," said Weinstein, founder of the $6.1 billion Saba Capital Management at the London Volatility Investing Conference. Weinstein said he expected markets to stay "bumpy" for a while.

Weinstein, when asked to pick a safe haven among choices that included gold and crypto, said he still believed U.S. Treasuries could be one.

"There is a lot of opportunity between safe credit and unsafe credit and we saw a similar dynamic in 2008," he added.

Credit spreads would widen further, as they usually do if there's a recession, he added.

To assess recession risks, Weinstein said alongside market analysis, prediction markets such as Polymarket "were a good way to test your assumptions".