When To Buy Bond Funds

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An investor with a laddered bond strategy can get their principal back at set maturity dates, while a bond fund does not have any specific maturity date. However, the return experience for both strategies should be very similar as long as the comparison is made properly. Since bond prices and yields have an inverse relationship, and since coupon payments are fixed at issuance, bond price is the only element that can change. This allows all comparable bonds to retain a competitive yield to maturity in the marketplace. In the context of a rising-rate environment, the perception is that holding an individual bond to maturity has a monetary benefit over a bond sold at less than par because investors receive par value back at maturity, assuming no default risk.

When comparing a portfolio of individual bonds with that of a bond mutual fund, the risk characteristics of each strategy must be similar to make an equivalent comparison. On day one, a laddered bond portfolio may have the same characteristics as a comparable mutual fund, but if the investor does not maintain the same risk profile of the portfolio over time, that same mutual fund cannot be used to compare with the laddered bond strategy over the same time horizon. The benchmarking mutual fund needs to change as the profile of the portfolio changes.

Instead, an investor who wants to use the same bond mutual fund as a comparison over the investment time horizon must employ a laddered bond strategy, where they actively manage the portfolio to retain the same characteristics over time. In either case, the expected return outcome should be similar across strategies. The laddered bond strategy has similar characteristics to a mutual fund, and the resulting portfolio is functionally similar to a mutual fund. However, there are additional considerations that investors need to take into account when employing this type of strategy.

As of August 31, 2022, Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund held approximately 10,000 bonds ranging in investment-grade credit quality across the fixed income sector and maturity spectrum. The effect of a bond default or downgrade in a portfolio made up of 10,000 bonds is relatively insignificant. A laddered bond portfolio with 100 different bonds may also be considered diversified, but the impact of a downgrade or default is 100 times greater relative to a bond fund made up of 10,000 bonds.

It's generally more cost-efficient to buy certain bonds in larger rather than smaller lot sizes. This can require significant capital, and many self-directed bond portfolios exhibit a higher-quality bias to compensate for the lack of diversification. Although a higher-quality bias mitigates default risk, the trade-off is generally lower returns, according to Vanguard research.1 Diversification also extends to interest rate risk.

An inverse relationship exists between yield and duration, or interest rate risk. In the case of a rising-rate environment, since mutual funds are making new bond purchases at higher coupons more often, interest rate risk is reduced on a more frequent basis.

Since bond funds generally invest in hundreds or thousands of underlying bonds, they tend to have more regular cash flows. This enables bond funds to more easily maintain the intended risk characteristics of a portfolio.

In contrast to buying individual bonds and actively managing a laddered bond portfolio, a $20 million client could get exposure to the U.S. credit market by allocating capital to Vanguard's short-, intermediate-, and long-term investment-grade mutual funds in a market-cap proportional manner for an all-in cost of 0.10%.2 Investors should be able to obtain greater exposure and greater diversification at a fraction of the overall cost.

\"Most investors know that bonds generally provide stability over the long term. However, when interest rates move higher, investor anxiety tends to pick up as short-term performance turns negative,\" said Plink, who anticipates continuing to field questions as long as the Federal Reserve pursues tighter monetary policy. \"Although this is not comforting as it is happening, higher interest rates are good for fixed income investors over the long term, as earned income drives the vast majority of a bond's total return.\"

Bond prices move in the opposite direction of interest rates while bond fund prices are sensitive to interest rates. Bond fund managers constantly buy and sell the underlying bonds held in the fund so the change in bond prices will change the NAV of the fund.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) regulates the bond market. FINRA posts transaction prices as the data becomes available. The data may lag the market, however, making it difficult to know what constitutes a fair price at the time you wish to invest.

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Bonds are loans you make to a government, government agency, or corporation, which they use to finance projects and other needs. The bond issuer agrees to repay you at a fixed interest rate by a specified date, or maturity.

These bonds are typically high-quality and very liquid. Most agency bonds are taxable at the federal and state level. Some are fully backed by the U.S. government, making their credit risk lower than other types of bonds.

These bonds are issued by companies, and their credit risk ranges over the whole spectrum. Interest from these bonds is taxable at both the federal and state levels. Because these bonds aren't as safe as government bonds, their yields are generally higher.

Bond funds are subject to interest rate risk, which is the chance bond prices overall will decline because of rising interest rates, and credit risk, which is the chance a bond issuer will fail to pay interest and principal in a timely manner or that negative perceptions of the issuer's ability to make such payments will cause the price of that bond to decline.

Although the income from a municipal bond fund is exempt from federal tax, you may owe taxes on any capital gains realized through the fund's trading or through your own redemption of shares. For some investors, a portion of the fund's income may be subject to state and local taxes, as well as to the federal Alternative Minimum Tax.

Generally, a bond that matures in one to three years is referred to as a short-term bond. Medium- or intermediate-term bonds are generally those that mature in four to 10 years, and long-term bonds are those with maturities greater than 10 years. Not all bonds reach maturity. Callable bonds, which allow the issuer to retire a bond before it matures, are common.

Bonds and bond funds can be an important component of a diversified investment portfolio. They can be helpful for anyone concerned about capital preservation and income generation and can help partially offset the risks that come with equity investing. But like all investments, they also carry an element of risk.

Savings bonds are also issued by the federal government and backed by the \"full faith and credit\" guarantee. Unlike many other types of bonds, only the person(s) in whose name a savings bond is registered can receive payment for it.

The two most common types of savings bonds are Series I and Series EE bonds. Both are accrual securities, meaning the interest you earn accrues monthly at a variable rate and is compounded semiannually. Interest income is paid out at redemption.

Most corporate bonds trade in the over-the-counter (OTC) market. TRACE, the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine, provides real-time price information for corporate bonds. TRACE brings transparency to the fixed income market and helps create a level playing field for all market participants by providing comprehensive, real-time access to bond price information.

Agency securities are bonds issued by U.S. federal government agencies (other than the U.S. Treasury) or by GSEs. Most agency bonds pay a semiannual fixed coupon and are sold in a variety of increments, generally requiring a minimum initial investment of $10,000.

With the exception of bonds issued by Ginnie Mae, agency securities are not fully guaranteed by the U.S. government. The issuing agency will affect the strength of any guarantee provided on the agency bond. Evaluating an agency's credit rating before you invest should be standard procedure. Many credit rating agencies make this information available on their website.

Municipal bonds, or muni bonds, are issued by states, cities, counties, towns villages, interstate authorities, intrastate authorities and U.S. territories, possessions and commonwealths to support their obligations and those of their agencies. They are generally backed by taxes or revenues received by the issuer.

No two municipal bonds are created equal, which can make the muni bond illiquid. The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) has educational information on muni bond investing, and its EMMA website has tools, data and disclosure documents to help compare and evaluate municipal securities.

You can purchase bonds issued by foreign governments and companies as another way to diversify your portfolio. Since information is often less reliable and more difficult to obtain for these bonds, you risk making decisions on incomplete or inaccurate information.

Like U.S. Treasurys, many international and emerging market bonds pay interest semiannually, although European bonds traditionally pay interest annually. Unlike U.S. Treasurys, however, there can be increased risks for U.S. investors who buy international and emerging market bonds, and buying and selling these bonds generally involves higher costs and requires the help of your firm or investment professional.

A bond fund is a mutual fund or exchange-traded fund that invests in bonds. These funds can contain all of one type of bond (municipal bonds, for instance) or a combination of bond types. Each bond fund is managed to achieve a stated investment objective. 59ce067264

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