MW Not all Treasurys are a reliable haven for investors right now, BlackRock bond chief Rick Rieder says

By Christine Idzelis

Rieder, who Trump considered for the next Fed chair, says it's crucial to get the right kind of duration in Treasurys to help add stability to portfolios

How reliable are long-term Treasurys as a hedge in portfolios?

Volatility in the U.S. bond market is picking up this month, with some investors questioning whether Treasurys can broadly - and reliably - provide a safe haven in times of tumult.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond BX:TMUBMUSD10Y just made a significant move back toward 4%, finishing Monday at its lowest level in nearly three months. While that translates as a rally for the U.S. government-debt security, Rick Rieder, chief investment officer of global fixed income at giant asset manager BlackRock - who was among the candidates considered by President Donald Trump to serve as next chair of the Federal Reserve - thinks investors should be cautious about swings in long-term Treasurys.

For Rieder, the duration of Treasurys matters when seeking to build a stable portfolio, as well as diversification beyond U.S. government debt.

While the U.S. bond market may still provide a cushion during market turmoil, long-dated Treasurys risk stinging investors who anticipate they'll reliably provide a hedge whenever the stock market falls, according to Rieder. As a haven, Rieder said by phone that he prefers shorter-duration bonds that extend out toward "the belly," or around the five-year point BX:TMUBMUSD05Y, of the Treasury market's so-called yield curve.

"For the most part, the belly of the yield curve will serve as an effective stabilizing influence" in portfolios, said Rieder, drawing a contrast with long-duration Treasurys that two or three decades ago "really helped you" build a foundation in bonds.

The U.S. bond market is broadly up in February while stocks SPX are down, providing some shelter as investors worry about corporate disruption from artificial intelligence. On Monday, investors were also weighing Trump's weekend announcement hiking his latest tariffs after the Supreme Court on Friday struck down his use of emergency powers to impose them.

Long-term Treasurys have rallied this month, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note ending Monday at 4.026% - the lowest since late November, based on levels at 3 p.m. Eastern, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Still, lingering worries over sticky inflation on the part of some investors, fiscal pressures in the U.S. and Europe, and divergent global policy paths still risk creating more volatility in long-term bonds in particular, according to Rieder. "Rates can hedge, but they can also hurt," he cautioned in a new report on his first-quarter outlook for fixed income.

In the modern bond market, "true ballast" will come from stable, diversified income globally where investors can find higher yields without taking on a lot of duration risk and the additional volatility that goes along with that in long-dated government debt, he told MarketWatch.

Rieder said that he is actively managing the Shares Flexible Income Active ETF BINC, an exchange-traded fund that invests in the bond market globally, at an annual yield of around 6%.

"We get so much yield staying clustered around the belly into the front end" of the yield curve, as well as from buying assets in areas such as corporate credit, mortgages, securitized assets and emerging-market debt, that "I just don't feel like I need that thrill out of the curve," he said.

-Christine Idzelis

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February 24, 2026 06:00 ET (11:00 GMT)

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