The following report includes a company - by - company comparison of Canadian high yield bonds» covenant strength based on Moody's Covenant Quality Assessments: The Canadian High Yield Bond Market: Frequently Asked Questions Canadian Corporations: Canadian High - Yield Bonds Continue to Offer More Protection Than US Issues Canadian High -
Yield Bonds Offer More Investor Protection Than US Bonds The following report summarizes how Moody's rates and analyzes nonfinancial speculative - grade issuers in the Canadian market: High Yield Insights for Canadian Investors
Many investors choose to buy high yield bondsHigh
yield bonds Offer a higher return, like some equities, but with lower risk.
Investments in high -
yield bonds offer different rewards and risks than investing in investment - grade securities, including higher volatility, greater credit risk, and the more speculative nature of the issuer.
At the same time, and ordinary investment in a basket of lower investment grade and high
yield bonds offers a nice return for those willing to live with some default risk, which is over-discounted here, even with things as bad as they are.
In Swedroe's book The Only Guide to Alternative Investments You'll Ever Need, he writes «Investing in high -
yield bonds offers the appeal of higher yields and the potential for higher returns.
As such,
the yield the bond offers will have to be high.
Not exact matches
If
bond yields rise significantly then some analysts have highlighted that they could
offer a better investment opportunity than equities.
The longest - term portion of the
offering, $ 8 billion of
bonds maturing in 30 years, sold originally at 99.4 cents on the dollar to
yield 1.95 percentage point more than comparable Treasuries.
Bond yields move inversely to prices; as a bond's yield declines, its price rises, offering investors the opportunity for capital returns in addition to the coupon payme
Bond yields move inversely to prices; as a
bond's yield declines, its price rises, offering investors the opportunity for capital returns in addition to the coupon payme
bond's
yield declines, its price rises,
offering investors the opportunity for capital returns in addition to the coupon payments.
NEW YORK, Jan 18 - U.S. fund investors pulled $ 3.1 billion from high -
yield «junk»
bonds during the latest week, Lipper data showed on Thursday,
offering new warning signs about risk appetite despite global markets» continuing triumph.
While credit risk might seem like a bad idea with the U.S. economy still weak and the rest of the world looking equally uncertain, high -
yield bonds do
offer bigger returns than government and investment - grade
bonds.
However, rates have retreated from over 8 percent in the last several weeks, and the credit risk of high -
yield bonds can
offer some diversification from the interest - rate risk of a portfolio of Treasury
bonds.
We believe that long - term tax - free municipal
bonds that
offer near - 4 %
yields (a 6.62 % taxable equivalent at today's top rate and 6.15 % even at the new proposed top rate of 35 %) still
offer superior value.
Also, they usually
offer higher
yields than municipal
bonds.
With equity valuations at historic highs and government
bonds barely eking out a return, junk
bonds offer solid
yields at a good price, he reasons.
Neither argument holds right now for holding any tactical cash, especially with no reasonable prospects for a near - term rate increase and the
yield differential
offered by
bonds over cash right now.
Certainly, it
offers an attractive level for longer - term investors such as pension and insurance funds to lock in a relatively decent
yield, and will tempt some portfolio managers to buy
bonds rather than equities.
Tax risks While municipal
bonds can
offer attractive effective
yields and can be a way to generate tax - free income, they may not be right for investors in every tax bracket or for every type of account.
The $ 1.2 trillion market for U.S. junk
bonds yields about 6.6 percent, double what's
offered by higher - rated company debt, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data.
Most of the capital provided to these companies comes from high -
yield («junk») corporate
bond sales, preferred share
offerings, and debt.
10 - year AA muni
bonds offer yields above those of U.S. Treasuries, even before accounting for their tax advantage (source: Bloomberg).
We also like tax - exempt municipal
bonds, which currently
offer attractive
yields.
«Focus on securities with shorter durations —
bonds with maturities in the five - year range and stocks paying dividends that
offer 3 % — 4 %
yields.
Private holders of Greek
bonds are being squeezed too: for every 2
bonds they hold, they'll be
offered a new one that is longer - dated and lower -
yielding.
Although the
bond market is also volatile, lower - quality debt securities, including leveraged loans, generally
offer higher
yields compared with investment - grade securities, but also involve greater risk of default or price changes.
Although they are not as egregiously expensive as 10 - year Swiss government
bonds — currently trading at a
yield of negative 0.25 % — Canadian
bonds are
offering a relatively paltry real return, even after adjusting for low inflation.
Advisors should give fixed indexed annuities (FIAs) a serious look because FIAs
offer a compelling story in an era of low
bond yields, according to Roger G. Ibbotson, one of the most recognizable names in finance.
Because they are considered to have low credit or default risk, they generally
offer lower
yields relative to other
bonds.
The Government of Canada 10 - year
bond yield is currently 1.4 %, which
offers a real
yield of minus 0.6 % (1.4 %
yield less 2 % inflation) over 10 years.
The
yields and risks are generally higher than those
offered by government and most municipal
bonds, and the income is subject to state and federal taxes.
However, note that some fixed income investments, like high -
yield bonds and certain international
bonds, can
offer much higher
yields, albeit with more risk.
As
yields across the world continue to be pushed lower by highly accommodative monetary policies, international investors are fleeing low (or negative) rates
offered by many DM government
bonds.
Higher
yielding fixed income
offers those higher
yields because the issuers of the
bonds have a better chance of defaulting on their debt.
Lower - rated
bonds generally
offer higher
yields to compensate investors for the additional risk.
Higher transaction costs Due to a typically large spread between bid and
offer prices, and higher transaction costs associated with less liquid securities, trading high
yield bonds can be costly.
While
yields on government
bonds remain unattractive, according to Stopford, investment - grade corporate
bonds offer a modest pickup in
yield — and high -
yield bonds, a more significant advantage.
Will dividend investors continue to purchase suddenly volatile, high -
yielding strategies when
bonds offer higher rates and less risk?
«However, the additional
yield offered by credit is unlikely to be sufficient to compensate for a rise in government
bond yields,» Stopford says.
Floating - rate loans have
yields and volatility similar to high -
yield corporate
bonds, with one major difference: As their name indicates, their interest rates «float,» adjusting periodically based on a benchmark rate, typically the London Interbank
Offered Rate (LIBOR).
For borrowers, leveraged loans
offer two significant advantages over high -
yield bonds: They are cheaper, by about 100 basis points on average at the moment.
In this context, a U.S. 10 - year
bond offering a roughly 2 %
yield and, backed by a strong currency, actually seems appealing.
High -
yield bonds, those from companies with weak financial positions and poor credit, are
offering rates as high as 9 % for 30 - year terms but also
offer the risk of bankruptcy before the
bond matures.
Highly rated companies that are financially strong and have massive amounts of cash on their balance sheets — think Microsoft, Exxon, etc. — can typically
offer bonds with lower
yields since investors are confident that the companies won't default (i.e., miss interest or principal payments).
The central bank underlined its determination to keep 10 - year
yields close to zero by
offering to buy unlimited
bonds.
Finally, tax - exempt
bonds are
offering compelling
yields relative to taxable instruments of the same maturity, based on my analysis of the Bloomberg data.
Despite their diversification rule, dollar - denominated high - grade
bonds offer low
yields and a great likelihood of capital losses this year as the Federal Reserve (Fed) raises interest rates.
Let's be realistic, while a 10 year U.S. Treasury
Bond pays 2.7 %, a similar maturity of Indian sovereign
Bond is
offering a
yield of 8.8 %!
Instead, we would continue to emphasize U.S. high
yield bonds and longer - dated municipals, as we believe both still
offer some relative value within fixed income.
Money market accounts
offer higher
yields because they are linked to low - risk
bonds and other relatively liquid instruments.
Non-asset holders were punished — their bank deposits now generate little or no income, and they were forced to move into riskier assets, such as stocks,
bonds, real estate, or «anything that
offers some
yield and is not bolted down to the floor» (please see my answer to What kind of market distortions does the Fed loaning out money at 0 % cause?).