Dan Fuss is having a good time. Never mind the crashing markets, sinking economy or recent losses in his $48bn fixed income portfolio. For the vice-chairman of Loomis Sayles, a Boston-based money manager, it is a rare opportunity to load up on cheap bonds.

“This is our kind of market,” says Mr Fuss, who has been investing in fixed income for half a century and these days buys everything from beaten-up municipal bonds to peso-denominated Mexican government paper. “We’re basically discount bond buyers, and for a number of years it was very difficult to find those.”