Fed moving quickly toward a smaller Securities portfolio

The Federal Reserve is moving quickly to fill in the details of how it will wind down its securities holdings in the years ahead, a process that could start this year and become the next big challenge for investors grown accustomed to easy money from the world’s most important central bank.

The Fed wants to move toward a smaller portfolio for several reasons. The economy is on stronger footing, leaving less need for support from a large bond portfolio. The large holdings have become a political liability, unpopular in…