0513 GMT - Since the Global Financial Crisis, fixed-income investors have generally been fixated on the Federal Reserve, and, more specifically, the fed funds rate, but recently, the market has become increasingly focused on long-term rates, Catalyst Funds' Larry Holzenthaler says in a note. "Inflation, shifting Fed expectations, government deficits around the globe, geopolitical risk and higher energy costs, AI spend that is both extremely price insensitive and competing for bond investment dollars, and a relatively strong economy in the U.S. have all contributed to a meaningful rise in long-term rates," the senior portfolio manager says. This began to accelerate in February with the beginning of the conflict in Iran and increased further in late June, he says.