A fund that focuses on lower -
quality junk bonds will often sport a higher yield.
Jettison a lower
quality junk bond ETF for a higher quality investment grade corporate bond ETF like iShares Intermediate Credit (CIU).
Not exact matches
You can invest in
bond funds by stated maturities (short - term, intermediate - term, long - term), credit
quality (treasuries,
junk bonds, investment grade corporate
bonds) or pretty much any other way you can separate
bond investments.
The fund can purchase securities of any credit
quality, including those in default, but it will primarily invest in investment - grade debt, with no more than 20 % of the portfolio invested in
junk bonds.
When people see banks browbeating the
bond rating agencies and accounting firms to whitewash the
quality of what they're pawning off on their customers, when they see bank lobbyists getting Washington to block state prosecutions of financial fraud so as to clear the way for more predatory lending and false packaging of the
junk securities they're selling and to win the right not to reveal their true financial position, there's a good reason not to buy what's in these black boxes.
So while these «fallen angel»
bonds have the potential to be intrinsically higher
quality than debt originally issued at the
junk or high - yield level, undue structural selling pressure from the downgrade can cause them to sell at a discount.
Further out in the credit
quality spectrum, U.S. - based high - yield «
junk»
bond funds
Spreads on the lowest
quality segment of the «
junk»
bond category, «C» rated
bonds, have narrowed by an extraordinary 30 percentage points since late 2001, to around 5.5 percentage points.
The investor should note that vehicles that invest in lower - rated debt securities (commonly referred to as
junk bonds) involve additional risks because of the lower credit
quality of the securities in the portfolio.
High yield
bonds are better known as
junk bonds because the credit
quality of the underlying
bond issuer is low.
The S&P 500 High Yield Corporate
Bond Index tracks the
junk bonds of issuers of the S&P 500 and as the yields indicate, on average, they tend to be better
quality than the
bonds in the broader index.
Although the advisor intends to invest at least 65 % of the fund's net assets in municipal
bonds rated investment grade or in unrated municipal
bonds that fund management believes are of comparable
quality, it is possible that in the future the fund could invest up to 100 % of its assets in «
junk bonds.»
Lower ‐
quality fixed income securities, known as «high yield» or «
junk»
bonds, present greater risk than
bonds of higher
quality, including an increased risk of default.
Credit ratings for
bonds below these designations («BB», «B», «CCC», etc.) are considered low credit
quality, and are commonly referred to as «
junk bonds.»
I would add in other asset classes as well: credit default, emerging markets,
junk bonds, low -
quality stocks, the toxic waste of Asset - and Mortgage - backed securities, and private equity.
Junk bonds involve a greater risk of default or price changes due to changes in the issuer's credit
quality.
Over the past 15 years, the average
junk bond fund has returned an annualized 6.9 % in interest and principal gains, compared with 3.9 % for an index of high -
quality U.S.
bonds.
Vanguard's high - yield corporate
bond fund, which invests in low -
quality «
junk»
bonds, made money in 2013, returning 4.5 %.
The values of
junk bonds fluctuate more than those of high
quality bonds and can decline significantly over short time periods.
Because they pose a greater risk of default than high -
quality bonds,
junk issues must yield more to attract buyers.
High - yield securities (
junk bonds) have speculative characteristics and present a greater risk of loss than higher
quality debt securities.
In general, the funds keep maturities between one and five years, and they stick to the highest -
quality bonds — no high - yield
junk.
Investor confidence in low -
quality bonds persists, as the default rate among
junk - rated companies fell to a six - year low of 1.5 % in March.
Since this fund is composes of higher
quality issues, the risk of default is modest compared to
junk bonds, but of course, we only consider US government debt as the sole risk - free
bond issuer.
Quality is paramount in our selection process and we avoid
junk bonds, mortgages and derivatives.
Therefore, when the ratio of
junk bond indexes to higher -
quality corporate
bond indexes rises, we know that investors are aggressive.
High Yield Securities Risk: High yield securities or unrated securities of similar credit
quality (commonly known as «
junk bonds») are more likely to default than higher rated securities.
It invests primarily in investment grade debt securities, but may invest up to 20 % of its total assets in
junk bonds that are rated B or higher by Moody's, or equivalently rated by S&P or Fitch, or, if unrated, determined by PIMCO to be of comparable
quality.
After commissions, these days it's next to impossible to find a 4 % yield (5 - yr maturity) in anything but low
quality unsecured (
junk)
bonds.
That said, research also shows that investment - grade
bonds as a group, which includes not just Treasuries but government agency issues and high -
quality corporates (though not high - yield, or
junk,
bonds), can also provide solid diversification during periods of stock market turbulence.