Investment -
grade bonds have historically tended to suffer smaller losses than stocks, and they very rarely post losses over longer time periods.
Even when investment -
grade bonds have experienced losses, the price drops have not been of the same magnitude as stocks have seen during bear markets.
U.S. stocks and investment
grade bonds have both performed remarkably well since the February stock correction.
Meanwhile, US investment -
grade bonds have come somewhat into vogue among European and Asian investors seeking exposure to the seemingly unstoppable dollar and respite from their own fragile economies, Deutsche Bank reports.
Investment -
grade bonds have historically tended to suffer smaller losses than stocks, and they very rarely post losses over longer time periods.
Back in 2007, before the financial crisis, a portfolio of investment
grade bonds would have yielded comfortably over 5 %.
Investment
grade bonds had less than 0.2 % probability of a default within a year.1
Given their pessimism, a substantial weight in investment
grade bonds would be in order.
A speculative -
grade bond has a rating of lower than Baa, an investment -
grade bond has a rating of Baa or higher.
Over time, a broadly diversified index of US investment -
grade bonds has produced positive returns (after accounting for inflation) far more frequently than cash (see the chart below).
Given their pessimism, a substantial weight in investment
grade bonds would be in order.
Back in 2007, before the financial crisis, a portfolio of investment
grade bonds would have yielded comfortably over 5 %.
Not exact matches
U.S. investment -
grade corporate -
bond prices
had been falling even before CVS's monster deal.
Amazon
has been an infrequent issuer in the investment -
grade bond market, with only $ 7.8 billion of debt outstanding as of June 30.
By contrast, many investors are moving into diversified investment -
grade fixed products, such as the IShares Core U.S. Aggregate
Bond ETF (AGG), which
has had net inflows of $ 435 million this quarter and $ 2.2 billion of net inflows year - to - date.
At the moment, the ECB can not purchase Greek
bonds because they do not
have an investment
grade rating.
In the credit markets, both investment -
grade and high - yield corporate
bonds had negative returns for the first time in eight quarters, with down - in - quality subsectors in each unconventionally outperforming higher quality ones.
Higher rated
bonds, known as investment
grade bonds, are seen as safer and more stable investments that are tied to corporations or government entities that
have a positive outlook.
Unfortunately, long - term
bond yields
have surged higher in the past two days across all credit
grades.
Each fund
has a stated objective, generally focusing on a particular sector, such as corporate or Treasury
bonds, or broad category, such as investment
grade or high yield.
Bonds rated below investment
grade may
have speculative characteristics and present significant risks beyond those of other securities, including greater credit risk and price volatility in the secondary market.
PTTAX underperformed intermediate investment
grade bond fund peers in the past 12 months ended Feb. 24, but
has an above - average five - and 10 - year annualized record.
Over the last twenty years, investors
have witnessed a steady decline in the interest rate on investment
grade bonds, GICs and term deposits.
We
would reduce exposure to non-investment
grade bonds (high - yield debt).
All else equal, unless it possesses some sort of major offsetting advantage that makes the risk of non-payment low, a company with a low - interest coverage ratio will almost assuredly
have bad
bond ratings, increasing the cost of capital; e.g., its
bonds will be classified as junk
bonds rather than investment
grade bonds.
When there is a downgrade from investment -
grade to high - yield status, this inevitably means managers with mandates permitting only investment -
grade bonds will
have to indiscriminately liquidate the downgraded
bond.
For people looking for ways to boost the income of a portfolio, that
has often meant casting a wider net than the traditional core holdings of U.S. Treasuries and investment
grade corporate
bonds.
Being diversified means you
have a wide variety of investment
grade bonds — corporate, municipals, Treasuries and possibly foreign issues.
Credit Suisse head of credit David Miller tells Danielle Myles why the
bond bull market still
has room to run, and how the Swiss bank is boosting its investment -
grade platform.
Central bank purchases, investor yield - seeking and safe - haven flows
have driven down yields on government and investment
grade corporate
bonds.
While volatility appears to be back, high -
grade corporate
bond spreads
have tightened to levels not seen since 2007.
The one I come back to is surprisingly simple: Increased demand for quality long - term
bonds combined with a limited supply
has created ashortage of investment -
grade securities.
It's not going to be possible to
have the same type of 5 - 6 % annual returns in high -
grade bonds that investors
have become accustomed to for the past 30 + years.
They note, for example, that the size of large trades of US investment
grade corporate
bonds (so - called «block trades»)
has continuously declined in recent years.6 Furthermore, in most corporate
bond markets, trading appears to be highly concentrated in just a few liquid issues, and concentration appears to be increasing in some market segments.
Retirement accounts, which are tax - advantaged, will
have more investment -
grade bonds.
In pursuance of the Union Budget 2018 announcement, the board also cleared a proposal on changing the investment
grade rating from AA to A for corporate
bonds, which
would boost investment scope while ensuring credit quality.
I
would highly urge investors to ensure a portion of their portfolio is in a historically reliable store of value — investment -
grade municipal
bonds, for instance, and gold bullion and gold mining stocks.
Further, with junk
grade defaults at negligible levels today, even higher risk
bonds have not posed significant problems — although that does not always
have to be the case.
Plenty of investment -
grade credit
bonds suspended coupon payments in the Depression, transiting directly from A to
D rating without even making a pit stop at a C junk rating.
Floating - rate loans» low credit ratings indicate greater potential risk of default relative to investment -
grade bonds (though default rates for floating - rate loans historically
have been lower than on high - yield
bonds).
The eventual downgrade to junk, aka non-investment
grade, will make IL debt ineligible for investment for some of their major institutional investors (one of which
has already called for a boycott of Illinois debt) which are restricted by mandate to purchase only investment
grade muni
bonds.
Companies with excellent to low credit ratings issue investment -
grade corporate
bonds, which
have lower interest rates because of the safety of the investment.
Short - term high
grade corporates
have become relatively more attractive lately due to a number of technical factors, chief among them a one - time shift out of short - maturity corporate
bonds as companies bring home cash held outside of the United States as a result of the recent tax act.
High yield
bonds (
bonds rated below investment
grade) may
have speculative characteristics and present significant risks beyond those of other securities, including greater credit risk, price volatility, and limited liquidity in the secondary market.
Municipal
bonds have an outlook much like the low -
grade bonds but the lack of a need for tax protection counts them out of this portfolio anyway.
I
would recommend AGG, BlackRock iShare's EFT that invests in US investment -
grade bonds.
High -
grade dollar - dominated
bonds have little role in such a portfolio except to offer diversification and stability.
The bottom line of Draghi's answers was that the ECB
would only buy government
bonds rated lower than investment
grade if the countries are in a bailout programme and the programme is not in a review period.
The Barclays U.S. Credit Index is the credit component of the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate
Bond Index, which is a broad - based bond index comprised of government, corporate, mortgage and asset - backed issues, rated investment grade or higher, and having at least one year to matur
Bond Index, which is a broad - based
bond index comprised of government, corporate, mortgage and asset - backed issues, rated investment grade or higher, and having at least one year to matur
bond index comprised of government, corporate, mortgage and asset - backed issues, rated investment
grade or higher, and
having at least one year to maturity.
It's also interesting to examine the changing significance and dynamics of the European
bond market in general, which
has almost doubled in size since 2005 to more than $ 10 trillion today, including government, investment -
grade corporate debt and high yield.