Bloomberg Businessweek · Sep 28, 2026
With Rebecca Walser, Founder and CEO of Walser Wealth Management
With the 10-year Treasury yield above 5%, Rebecca Walser said her clients' most common question is whether to take risk off the table and move into bonds.
The usual answer is that bonds are the safe choice. Walser said that safety comes from holding a bond until it matures, and most investors now buy bond ETFs, which never mature.
"And in fact, we're not even holding individual bonds anymore. We're holding ETFs."
Rebecca Walser, Founder and CEO of Walser Wealth Management, on Bloomberg Businessweek, runs a Tampa firm with about $350 million in assets under management, the hosts said.
The full segment is covered here so you can skip it.
Here are the 4 lessons that matter.
Key Takeaways
A bond's safety comes from holding it to maturity, and a bond ETF does not do that
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She calls today's risk "the convergence of all things": a Middle East war, Russia and Ukraine, China and Taiwan, and pandemic-era money still feeding inflation
1. Bond ETFs Are Not Bonds
Asked what clients ask most, Walser said a 10-year yield above 5% makes investors think about locking in gains.
"You know, I think anytime you have the 10-year over 5%, you definitely have investors that think, oh, is it time to, you know, hey, take some risk off the table, lock in some profits and go to, you know, what they consider safety." — Rebecca Walser
"And, you know, it's not a bad play." — Rebecca Walser
"However, when you are in a rising rate environment, you have to remind, you know, clients that potentially aren't going to hold those bonds for the duration, the safety of a bond, as everyone knows, comes from holding it to maturity." — Rebecca Walser
Most investors now buy bond ETFs, she said, which trade daily at market value.
"And so there's an educational perspective that needs to be delivered of saying, OK, if you're buying these that are fungible on a daily basis at their net present value, then we're not holding these bonds to maturity." — Rebecca Walser
"And in fact, we're not even holding individual bonds anymore. We're holding ETFs." — Rebecca Walser
