Home | Archives | Blog | Bonds | Credit & Debt | Forex | Futures | Insurance | Mutual Funds | Options | Real Estate | Stocks | Taxes | Other Investment Topics | New Money Articles

Bonds

As an investment, bonds are riskier, but pay a higher interest rate, than money market funds or demand deposits or checkable deposits, but are safer than stocks, and usually less profitable, because they have no potential for growth.

Bonds are long-term debt or funded debt, issued by corporations, and governments and their agencies to finance operations or special projects. Corporations pay back interest and principal from earnings, whereas governments pay from taxes, or revenues from special projects. Unlike preferred stock, a corporation must pay interest on its bonds, and if the corporation goes bankrupt, bondholders are paid before any stockholders.

All bonds have a par value, an interest rate, and a maturity date. The interest rate is often called the coupon rate, because many bond certificates have coupons that the bondholder must turn in to receive the interest. In a primary offering, the investor buys the bond for par value. This money goes to the issuer. Periodically, the issuer pays interest to the investor, which is calculated by multiplying the par value by the interest rate divided by the number of payments in a year. Example: if the interest rate is 6% and the par value is $1,000, then the interest earned annually is $60. If the company pays interest semi-annually, which most do, then the bondholder will receive 2 payments of $30 every year until maturity. When the bond matures, then the current owner gets back the par value of the bond. In other words, the loan is paid off. Because the amount of interest the bond pays is fixed, bonds are a type of fixed-income security.

Bond maturities vary widely. Long-term bonds mature in 10 to 30 years or more; intermediate bonds have maturity dates greater than 1 year, but less than 10 years; short-term bonds mature in a year or less. Generally, the longer the maturity date, the greater the interest rate for a given risk class. Such a relationship is sometimes called the term structure of interest rates.

The indenture, or deed of trust, is the legal agreement between the issuer and the bondholder, printed on the bond certificate, and specifying the duties and obligations of the trustee (usually a bank or trust company hired by the issuer), and the rights of the bondholder. The indenture specifies how and when the bond will be paid, the interest rate, the description of any property used as collateral, and what the bondholder needs to do if the corporation defaults. The trustee represents the bondholders in dealing with the bond issuer, and will bring suit if interest payments are not made.

Covenants are promises in the indenture, or other debt agreement, that cover certain contingencies, such as debt-equity ratios, dividends, working capital, and, increasingly, leveraged buyouts. Covenants are generally either restrictive or protective. For instance, a change-of-control covenant may require the issuer to pay par value for their bonds to current bondholders when the company is acquired in a leveraged buyout, which frequently degrades the credit quality of the acquired company, and therefore lowers the value of the company's outstanding bonds.

Ownership of Bonds

Bonds can be classified as to how ownership is determined.

Bearer Bonds

Bearer bonds, or coupon bonds, have no name or other identifying information on them; interest and principal are paid to the bearer of the bond; hence the name. Because bearer bonds are highly negotiable, they were used in money laundering, so the Tax Act of 1982 ended any new issuance of bearer bonds, but they still exist because of their long lifespan—up to 30 years. They are called coupon bonds because the bond certificates have interest coupons attached to them, which are redeemed biannually at an authorized bank, which will also redeem the bond when it matures if presented.

Registered Bonds

Registered bonds are registered to the owner. Interest payments, and the principal when the bond matures, are paid to the registered owner by the company or its trustee. Some bonds are registered, but nonetheless have interest coupons attached to them, so sometimes these are referred to as partially registered bonds.

Book Entry Bonds

Book entry bonds have no certificate, ownership is tracked by computer. The U.S. Treasury, for instance, has used this method of determining ownership since 1986. Eventually, because of its low cost and easy record access, all ownership will probably be tracked this way.

Types of Corporate Bonds

Bonds can be classified as either secured or unsecured. Secured bonds, or asset-backed bonds, are backed by assets of the corporation, such as real estate or equipment. The safety of unsecured bonds, called debentures, depends on the faith and credit of the issuer.

Most corporate bonds correspond to 3 major market sectors:

1. Industrials or cyclicals, which constitutes the largest sector;
2. publics utilities; and
3. banking and finance companies.

Mortgage Bonds

Mortgage bonds are secured by real estate.

Equipment Trust Certificate and Serial Bonds

The equipment trust certificate is a bond secured by equipment, frequently issued by railroads and other transportation companies. A down payment is made on the equipment by the corporation, which then issues equipment trust certificates to finance the rest. The certificate holder receives both principal and interest every year until maturity. Often these bonds are issued as serial bonds, which are bonds of the same type, but mature at regular intervals as the collateral depreciates.

Collateral Trust Certificate

Collateral trust certificates are secured by other securities that the corporation owns, which may be the corporation’s own securities, or of other companies. These securities are deposited into a trust for the benefit of the bondholders. The safety of these bonds is related to the safety of the underlying securities.

Guaranteed Bonds

These bonds are insured by another company, or the parent company. Although these bonds are not risk-free, default risk is reduced since both companies would have to default.

Debenture

A debenture is a bond that is not secured by any property. Its safety depends on the assets and earning power of the issuer. Thus, debentures are not as safe as other bonds from the same company.

Income Bonds (Adjustment Bonds)

Not a good investment for regular income, these bonds pay interest if earned, and only to the extent of earnings, up to a maximum. These bonds are usually issued by bankrupt companies reorganizing. These are the only bonds where nonpayment of interest does not lead to an immediate default.

Types of Government Bonds

Municipal Government Bonds (Munis)

Municipal bonds are issued by municipalities for immediate funds and to finance specific projects. Most municipal bonds are exempt from federal taxes and from state and local taxes, if the bond was issued by a municipality within the taxpayer's state. Because of the tax exemption, and because of their relative safety, municipal bonds generally pay the lowest interest rates.

Some municipal bonds, when they are not backed by the taxing power of the municipality, are insured. In the event of a default, the insurance company pays the par value of the bond. Insured bonds, because of their lower risk, generally pay a lower interest rate than uninsured bonds.

General Obligation Bonds (GOs)

General obligation bonds are obligations of a government or its agency, and backing for the bond issues from the issuer’s unlimited taxing power. City, county, and school district bonds are particularly safe because they are based upon ad valorem real estate taxes.

Limited and Special Tax Bonds

Limited and special tax bonds’ safety is derived from a specific tax, such as a gasoline tax or a special assessment. These bonds are not quite as secure as GOs, because they are based upon a specific tax; nonetheless, they are generally safe.

Revenue Bonds

Authorities and agencies, created by state governments to perform specific functions, issue bonds for specific needs, such as the construction of a building, that generally have the power to levy fees for their services, such as the operation of water and sewers, or they have contractual arrangements with a government entity that provides payments for services. Revenue bonds are not backed, however, by the taxing power of the government entity.

Industrial Revenue Bonds (IRB) or, Industrial Development Bonds

Industrial revenue bonds finance the construction of a commercial facility for a private user. A local community creates an industrial development authority that can borrow money by issuing municipal bonds. The facility is then leased backed to the corporate guarantor. Though the safety of the bond is dependent on the creditworthiness of the corporation, and not the municipality, frequently, the corporation has superior credit.

Capital Appreciation Bonds (cABs)

Capital appreciation bonds are municipal zero coupon bonds, which are issued at deep discounts to its face value, and pays its interest at maturity by paying the face value of the bond.

AMT Bonds

Prior to the Tax Reform Act of 1986, almost all municipal bonds were exempt from federal taxes, and from state and local taxes if the bond was issued by the state of the taxpayer. However, the Tax Reform Act of 1986 allowed only public purpose bonds to be tax-exempt, and could be issued in any quantity. These are bonds that are issued to primarily benefit the public. However, if the bond benefits private parties more than 10%—a private purpose bond—then it is generally taxable. Private purpose bonds, also known as alternative minimum tax bonds, or AMT bonds, can be designated as tax-exempt, but there is a volume cap, and the interest paid by these bonds are tax preference items that must be included in calculating the alternative minimum tax.

Because wealthy people are generally subject to the alternative minimum tax, and because they are the main buyers of most municipal bonds, since the tax exemption benefits them the most, they generally shun AMT bonds. This lowers the demand for AMT bonds, which increases the amount of interest they pay compared to other municipal bonds. Thus, AMT bonds are a good investment for people not subject to the alternative minimum tax.

Notes

Various short-term notes are issued by municipalities for current income that will be paid off by expected future revenue. Hence, many of these notes are called anticipation notes.

Municipal Notes

Issued by municipalities to finance current operations. Municipal notes, usually in $25,000 denominations, have maturities that range from 60 days to about a year, when interest and principal are paid by tax or bond revenues.

Anticipation Notes—TAN, BAN, RAN, TRAN, GAN, SAAN

Tax anticipation notes (TAN)are issued by cities for current income, and are paid off when tax revenues are collected. Bond anticipation notes (BAN) are issued in anticipation of bond revenue that will come later because the municipality wants to combine several projects into 1 bond issue, or because poor market conditions delay the issuance of bonds. Revenue anticipation notes (RAN) are issued in anticipation of revenue from the project that it finances, such as a toll road or a sewer system. Tax and revenue anticipation notes (TRAN) are paid by future taxes and revenue. Grant anticipation notes (GAN) are paid by federal grants, and state aid anticipation notes (SAAN) are paid off by aid received from the state.

Federal Government Securities

All federal government securities are considered to be quite safe, and therefore, usually have no credit rating. U.S. government securities are generally exempt from state and local taxes, but not federal taxes. While most government issues trade in the capital markets, notes that mature in a year or less are traded in the money markets. Almost all federal securities, including savings bonds, can be bought at the U.S. Treasury’s new website, http://treasurydirect.gov commission-free. Ownership is determined by book-entry only, except for some savings bonds, but even these are moving more to book-entry ownership. There is more flexibility in book-entry ownership. For instance, if you buy the I bonds in certificate form, you must buy them in specific denominations that range from $50 up to $10,000, but with book-entry, you can specify an exact amount that must be $25 or more. If you want to buy a bond for $47.17, you can.

U.S. Government Savings Bonds are the most widely held federal security, but cannot be traded. Paper bonds are issued at half of their face value, book-entry bonds are issued at face value, which can be any amount over $25. However, for both paper and book-entry, $30,000 is the maximum amount that can be purchased. Although they can be cashed in early, they must be held for at least a year, and there is a penalty of 3 months’ interest, if cashed in before 5 years. Federal taxes are only assessed after the bond is cashed in, and there are no state or local income tax on interest, but there may be federal, state, and local inheritance, estate, and gift taxes due, if applicable.

U.S. Treasury Bills (T-Bills) are direct obligations of the U.S. government, and are highly liquid. Issued weekly to a competitive bidding process, they mature in 4, 13, or 26 weeks. They pay no interest and, unlike bonds and notes, have no specified interest rate. They are always sold at a discount. (Example: $10,000 worth of T-Bills sold for $9,750).

U.S. Treasury Notes pay semi-annual interest on the stated par value of the note; the par value is paid when the note matures in 1 to 10 years.

U.S. Treasury Bonds pay semi-annual interest, and mature in 10 to 30 years. 30 year bonds are usually callable after 25 years.

U.S. Treasury STRIPS (Separately Traded Registered Interest and Principal Securities, also called Treasury Receipts) are so called because the interest is stripped from the principal. STRIPS are sold in 2 parts, 1 part being the semiannual interest that is paid for 20 to 30 years, the other being the principal, which is sold at a discount—in essence, a zero coupon bond. Extremely volatile.

U.S. Federal Agency Securities

U.S. Federal Agency Securities are issued by U.S. Government Sponsored Agencies (GSEs) authorized by Congress to issue debt securities for their financial needs. They do not have the direct backing of the U.S. Treasury, but are considered to be moral obligations of the government. Like other federal securities, the interest from these bonds are exempt from state and local taxes, but not federal tax.

The main agencies are the Federal Farm Credit Banks and the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs). Federal Home Loan Banks, operating under the Federal Home Loan Bank board, consists of most of the nation’s Savings and Loans banks. The FHLB board borrows money by issuing bonds of various maturities, then lends the money to S&L banks, which then lend the money, which includes deposits from banking customers, to home buyers.

The Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) is a government owned corporation, created in 1938, to help low- and middle-income people to buy homes. Fannie Mae buys and sells real estate mortgages that are insured by the Federal Housing Administration or guaranteed by the Veterans Administration. It sells unsecured bonds and notes, and mortgage-backed bonds, which are issued at par, pays semiannual interest, and earned interest is taxed. Ironically, interest and principal payments from unsecured notes and bonds have priority over mortgaged-backed bonds.

Privatized in 1968, equity shares of Fannie Mae trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA)

The income from Ginnie Maes (also called Ginnie Mae Pass-Throughs), which are pass-through certificates, comes from a pool of mortgage payments. Mortgage holders pay their monthly mortgage to the institution, usually a bank, that originated the loan. The bank then deducts a small percentage, about ½%, and passes the rest to the Ginnie Mae investors. Payments are guaranteed by Ginnie Mae. The mortgages are FHA insured, or guaranteed by the VA or the Farmers Home Administration. The monthly payments consist of principal and interest, have a minimum denomination of $25,000 and are backed by the federal government. Earned interest is taxed. There are 2 types of Ginnie Maes:

1. GNMA 1 certificates pay principal and interest separately from a single issuer pool.
2. GNMA 2 securities represent multiple issue pools from more diverse locations. Investors are paid both interest and principal in one payment.

Ginnie Mae does not buy or sell loans or issue mortgage-backed securities (MBS). Therefore, Ginnie Mae's balance sheet doesn't use derivatives to hedge or carry long term debt.

What Ginnie Mae does is guarantee investors the timely payment of principal and interest on MBS backed by federally insured or guaranteed loans — mainly loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) or guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Other guarantors or issuers of loans eligible as collateral for Ginnie Mae MBS include the Department of Agriculture's Rural Housing Service (RHS) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH). The interest rate of the security is lower than the interest rate of the underlying loan to allow for payment of servicing and guaranty fees. Ginnie Mae MBS are created when eligible mortgage loans (those insured or guaranteed by FHA, the VA, RHS, or PIH) are pooled by approved issuers and securitized. Ginnie Mae MBS investors receive a pro rata share of the resulting cash flows (after subtracting servicing and guaranty fees). Ginnie Mae I MBS requires all mortgages in a pool to be the same type (e.g. single-family) and have a first payment date no more than 48 months before the issue date of the securities. Each mortgage must be, and must remain, insured or guaranteed by FHA, VA, RHS or PIH. In addition, the mortgage interest rates must all be the same and the mortgages must be issued by the same issuer. The minimum pool size is $1 million; payments on Ginnie Mae I MBS have a stated 14-day delay (payment is made on the 15th day of each month). Ginnie Mae II MBS allows multiple-issuer pools to be assembled, which in turn allows for larger and more geographically dispersed pools as well as the securitization of smaller portfolios. A wider range of coupons is permitted in a Ginnie Mae II MBS pool, and issuers are permitted to take greater servicing fees — ranging from 25 to 75 basis points. The minimum pool size is $250,000 for multi-lender pools and $1 million for single-lender pools. Ginnie Mae II MBS have an additional five-day payment delay because issuer payments are consolidated by a central paying agent (payment is made on the 20th day of each month).

Ginnie Mae Platinum Securities provide investors with greater operating efficiency, allowing holders of multiple MBS to combine them into a single platinum certificate. Ginnie Mae Platinum Securities can be used in structured finance transactions, repurchased transactions as well as general trading.

Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduits (REMIC) can be corporations, partnerships, or trusts that issue mortgage-backed securities of different classes, with different principal balances, interest rates, average lives, prepayment characteristics, final maturities, different yields and different risks, thus expanding the market by creating a more diverse set of securities for investors. The legal basis of REMICs was established by the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which eliminated double taxation from these securities. Unlike traditional pass-throughs, the principal and interest payments in REMICs are not passed through to investors pro rata; instead, they are divided into varying payment streams to create the different classes. The assets underlying REMIC securities can be either other MBS or whole mortgage loans.

Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae)

Sallie Mae was originally created in 1972 as a government-sponsored entity (GSE). The company began privatizing its operations in 1997, a process it completed at the end of 2004 when the company terminated its corporate ties to the federal government. Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Sallie Mae provides liquidity for private lenders participating in the federal Guaranteed Student Loan Program, supplemental programs, the Health Education Assistance Loan Program or the PLUS loan program for parents of undergraduates.

Sallie Mae issues unsecured debt as discount notes, floating-rate notes, long-term fixed-rate securities, and zero coupon bonds. The interest is exempt from state and local taxes.

The company primarily provides federally guaranteed student loans originated under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), and offers comprehensive information and resources to assist students, parents and guidance professionals with the financial aid process. Sallie Mae currently owns or manages student loans for 8 million borrowers.
For more information on debt securities issued by the:

• SLM Corp.
• SLM Student Loan Trusts
• SMS Student Loan Trusts

Bond Ratings and Credit risk

How much interest a bond has to pay in order to sell is dependent not only on the current prevailing interest rate, but also upon the issuer’s credit rating, which is a independent gauge by a credit rating agency of the credit risk of the issuer. Credit risk is the risk that the investor may lose part or all of his investment because of the issuer's insolvency, or inability to pay the interest and principal. The greater the credit risk, the more interest the issuer has to pay to sell its bonds.

The 5 major services that rate bonds are S&P, Moody's, Fitch, A.M. Best, and Dominion Bond Rating Service, and are the 5 nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSRO) selected by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Standard & Poor’s ratings range from AAA for the highest quality bonds to D, which are bonds in default. Moody’s rating system is slightly different, ranging from Aaa for the highest quality down to the lowest rating of C, which characterizes bonds of little or no value. The other rating agencies have similar ratings. All bonds rated BBB or above by Standard & Poor or Baa or above by Moody is considered investment grade; bonds with lower ratings are considered speculative grade, which pays higher interest rates for the higher risk of loss; thus, these bonds are sometimes referred to as high-yield bonds. Bonds with ratings that begin with C or below are referred to as junk bonds, because of their high risk of default. Junk bonds also pay the highest interest rate. Recently, Moody’s has expanded its public ratings of companies that enable a more detailed comparison. Financial institutions and trustees are generally restricted to purchasing investment grade bonds.

Some bonds are not rated because the issuer doesn’t want to pay for a rating, or because the issuer does not have a sufficient credit history for a credit rating. Any bond or note that is backed by the U.S. Treasury is not rated because such securities are considered risk-free.

Issuers of municipal bonds can buy insurance for their investors from companies such as AMBAC, FGIC, and MBIA, which will guarantee payment in case of default. Such bonds generally receive the highest ratings from the credit rating services.

Investor Alert! Note that credit ratings are not foolproof. Enron had an investment-grade rating right up until it declared bankruptcy, and WorldCom up to 3 months before filing for bankruptcy!

It's also a good idea to check all of the credit-rating agencies about a particular issuer, because different agencies have different criteria, and different strengths and weaknesses in rating bond issuers.

Bond Yields

The return of a bond is largely determined by its interest rate. The interest that a bond pays depends on a number of factors, including the prevailing interest rate and the creditworthiness of the issuer, which, of course, is what is assessed by the credit rating companies, such as Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s. The higher the credit rating of the issuer, the less interest the issuer has to offer to sell its bonds. The prevailing interest rate—the cost of money—is determined by the supply and demand of money. Like virtually anything else, the greater the supply and the lower the demand, the lesser the interest rate, and vice versa. An often used measure of the prevailing interest rate is the prime rate charged by banks to their best customers.

Nominal yield, or the coupon rate, is the stated rate of interest of the bond. This yield percentage is the percentage of par value, which is almost always $5,000 for municipal bonds, and $1,000 for all other bonds, that is usually paid twice a year. Thus, a bond that pays 5% interest pays $50 dollars per year in 2 semi-annual payments of $25. The return of a bond is the return/investment, or in the example just cited, $50/$1,000 = 5%.

The interest from municipal bonds are not taxed by the federal government. Hence, municipalities can pay a lower interest for its bonds than a corporation with a comparable credit rating. To compare municipal bonds with taxable bonds, the yield is converted to a taxable equivalent yield (TEY) = (Muni Yield)/(100% - Tax Bracket %).

Because bonds trade in the secondary market, they may sell for less or more than par value, which will yield an interest rate that is different from the nominal yield, called the current yield, or current return. The price of bonds moves in the opposite direction of interest rates. If rates go up, the price of bonds decrease; if the rates go down, then the bonds increase in value. To see why, consider this simple example. You buy a bond when it is issued for $1,000 that pays 8% interest. Suppose you want to sell the bond, but since you bought it, the interest rate has risen to 10%. You will have to sell your bond for less than what you paid, because why is somebody going to pay you $1,000 for a bond that pays 8% when they can buy a similar bond of equal credit rating and get 10%. So to sell your bond, you would have to sell it so that the $80 that is received per year in interest will be 10% of the selling price—in this case, $800, $200 less than what you paid for it. (Actually, the price probably wouldn’t go this low, because the yield-to-maturity is greater in such a case, since if the bondholder keeps the bond until maturity, he will receive a price appreciation which is the difference between $1,000, the bond’s par value and what he paid for it.) In such a case, the bond is said to be selling at a discount. If the interest rate of a new bond issue is lower than what you are getting, then you will be able to sell your bond at a higher price than what you paid—you will be selling your bond at a premium. The current yield = annual interest payment/price of bond.

Because current bond prices fluctuate, an investor can pay more or less than the par value for a bond. If the investor holds the bond until maturity, he will lose money if he paid a premium for the bond, and he will earn money if he paid for it at a discount. The yield-to-maturity, or true yield, of a bond that is held to maturity will have to account for the gain or loss that occurs when the par value is repaid. The formula for yield to maturity is complicated and difficult to solve, but it generally will yield an interest rate comparable to newly issued bonds with the same credit rating. The following formula is a

When a bond is bought at a discount, yield to maturity will always be greater than the current yield; when it is bought at a premium, the yield to maturity will always be less than the current yield.

Because some bonds are callable, these bonds will also have a yield-to-call ratio, which is calculated exactly the same as yield to maturity, but the call date is substituted for the maturity date and the call price is substituted for par value. When a bond is bought at a premium, the yield to call is always the lowest yield of the bond.

Zero coupon bonds pay no interest, but are sold at a discount to par value, which is paid when the bond matures.

Bond Quotes

When looking at bond quotes, you will notice that most of them hover around 100. Each bond point = $10; therefore, to get the actual bond price, you must multiply the quote by 10. Thus, a bond quote of 94.25 = an actual price of $942.50.

Federal government and agency bonds are also quoted in points of $10 each. Here's a quote for a 91 day Treasury Bill: 97.970194. T-Bills are sold at a discount, so to buy this, you would have to pay $979.70, and you would get $1,000 back when the Bill matures in 91 days. If you wanted to buy 1,000 T-Bills at this price, you would have to multiply this quote by 10,000 for a total cost of $979,701.94, then you would receive $1,000,000 back in 91 days.

Repayment of Principal

The principal of a term bond is paid when the term ends. Term bonds have only 1 maturity.

Some bond issues have serial maturities—the bonds are the same except for different maturity dates, and bonds with longer maturities have a higher interest rate. Bonds with serial maturities are not callable. Equipment Trust Certificates are generally issued this way so that the principal remaining to be paid will have lesser value than the depreciating assets backing them up. Some municipal bonds are also issued with serial maturities.

A balloon maturity combines features of term and serial maturities. A portion of the principal, along with interest, is paid each year until the final year, when the remaining principal, or balloon, payment is made.

Callable Bonds

Some bonds are never callable: equipment trust certificates, FNMAs, and FHLBs. Most bonds, however, provide a callable provision that allows the issuer to refinance if the interest rates decline.

When interest rates rise, bond prices go down. If a company wanted to retire its debt, it could do so by buying its bonds in the open market for less money than it would have to pay when the bond matures. If a company has the free cash, it would be advantageous for it to do this. If the bond issue doesn’t have a large trading volume, the company may publish a tender offer in a major newspaper, such as the Wall Street Journal, at a slightly higher price than the current market price to motivate the bondholders to sell back the bonds to the company.  The tender offer may be for all of an issue, or only part of it. If the company only wants to buy some of them back, then it will buy from those who sell first, until the company has fulfilled its goal.

When interest rates decline, the price of bonds go up. It would not be profitable for the company to buy back its bonds on the open market, because it will have to pay more than par value, the value that the company would have to pay when the bond matures. However, if the bond is callable, then the company can sell new bonds at the prevailing lower interest rate, and use that money to call back the higher interest bonds, in effect, refinancing their debt for a lower cost, which in bond parlance is known as refunding. Whether a bond is callable is stated in the indenture, and includes a schedule of when the bond can be called and at what price, specified as a percentage of par value. Generally, the sooner the bond is called, the more the company pays over par value. This call premium is to compensate the investor for losing his investment earlier than anticipated.

Call Protection

When a bond is called, it ceases to pay interest after the call date. However, a bond cannot be called until a certain amount of time has elapsed, specified in the indenture, and when it is called, usually a premium is paid—the call premium—which decreases yearly, to mollify the investor. After all, a bond will be called when interest rates have declined and bond prices have risen, a time when the bondholder of a high yielding bond is getting good interest and can sell at a high price. But this is the risk in buying high yielding, callable bonds in times of low interest rates. If the bond is called, not only do interest payments stop, but the call premium may be less than what the bond would get on the open market. Thus, before paying a premium for a bond, check the call specifics; otherwise, you can quickly lose some money.

How Bonds are Called

Bonds all have unique bond numbers. When only some of the bonds are called, bond numbers are selected randomly, and the bondholders are notified. When issuers can choose when to call a bond, that is an optional call. When the issuer provides a sinking fund to retire debt, how much and when is specified in the indenture, and thus, it is a mandatory call. Many bonds, especially municipal bonds, fund specific projects, and the interest and principal are paid from money earned  by the project—for instance, the tolls collected by a bridge. If something happens to the bridge, and it is destroyed, no more money can be collected. An extraordinary call, or catastrophe call is made. Insurance covering the project pays the bondholders off.

Sinking Fund

Rather than refunding to pay back principal, some bond issuers establish a sinking fund, an escrow account, which the issuer deposits periodic payments to retire some bonds regularly. If interest rates are rising, the fund will purchase the bonds in the open market; if rates are decreasing, then the bonds will be called.

Special Bonds

Advanced Refunded Bonds

Advanced refunded bonds, or pre-refunded bonds, are usually municipal bonds. New bonds, called refunding bonds, are issued to buy Treasuries at a higher interest than the municipal bonds, which are then used to retire the debt of the original bond issue as they mature. Thus, the pre-refunded bonds are no longer backed by the pledge of the municipal issuer. However, because the bonds are now backed by Treasuries, they are considered risk-free.

Catastrophe Bonds

Catastrophe bonds (frequently shortened to cats), first marketed in the 1990’s in response to Hurricane Andrew and the earthquake in Northridge, California, are issued by insurance companies to cover catastrophes such as windstorms in Europe and earthquakes in Japan, but the majority cover hurricanes in the United States. It is a means by which insurance companies can transfer their risk. Reinsurance is not readily available for such disasters, and, in the event of a disaster, insurance companies get their money faster from catastrophe bonds than they do from reinsurance. Another advantage of bonds over reinsurance is that the issuer can get coverage over several years.

The risks of catastrophe bonds are hard to assess because their ratings are often based on a model portfolio rather than actual risks, which, in any case, is very difficult to forecast.

Catastrophe bonds are attractive to investors because, since it is possible to lose the entire principal from a disaster, they pay very high yields, and they don’t correlate with stocks or even with other bonds, thereby providing diversification.

Put Bonds

Some municipal and corporate bonds have a put option, stated in the indenture, that allows the investor to require the issuer to buy back the bond at par value before the maturity date, which makes the bonds more attractive to investors in times when interest rates may rise, forcing the price of bonds down, or when the credit rating of the company or municipality deteriorates, causing the price of the bonds in the secondary market to decline.

Convertible Bonds

Convertible bonds, usually debentures, can be converted into common stock of the corporate issuer at the discretion of the investor. Either the number of shares or the share price is specified in the indenture. The number of shares of stock that each bond can be converted to is known as the conversion ratio. Thus, a bond that can be converted into 10 shares of stock has a conversion ratio of 10 to 1. If the share price is specified in the indenture instead of the number of shares, then the conversion ratio can be found by dividing the par value of the bond—$1,000—by the share price.  Thus, if a share price of $20 is specified, then the conversion ratio is $1,000/$20 = 50 shares.

Some bonds specify different conversion ratios, or different conversion prices, for different time periods. For instance, the indenture may say that in the first 10 years, the bond may be converted to 20 shares, and after that, they may be converted to 40 shares. There is also an anti-dilutive provision where the conversion ratio or conversion price is changed to reflect any stock splits or stock dividends.

The convertibility factor, like many special bond features, lowers the interest rate that the corporation would otherwise have to pay without this feature, and it appeals to investors who want current income, but would like to take advantage of any growth in the corporation.

Because convertible bonds are callable, the conversion can be forced by the company if bond prices drop. This eliminates debt and interest payments for the company.

The advantages of convertible bonds to an investor is that it offers appreciation potential if the company does well, and its stock rises; but, if the company suffers, and the stock price declines, the investor can still keep the bond as a bond, and collect interest and principal, or sell it, based on the interest that it pays. If the company ever goes bankrupt, the bondholder will have superior claims over any stockholder.

The disadvantages include a lower interest rate, and the possibility that the bond will be called prior to conversion, or even before when it can be converted, since some bonds restrict conversions to certain time frames.

Islamic bonds

Shariah is the law of Islam and it bans usury and interest payments—consequently, it also bans bonds. So that Muslim countries can benefit from international investment, and so international investors can invest in projects in Muslim countries, variations of the typical bond have been financially engineered to work somewhat like bonds, but still be compliant with Shariah—thus, they are called Islamic bonds.

One such structured product is the lease-back, or ijarah, structure. If a company wanted to raise money to build a plant, for instance, using this method, it would set up a special entity specifically for this project that would buy the plant. Investors would lend money to the special entity, in return for lease payments, in lieu of interest, for the term of the deal. At the end of the term, the principal is returned to investors, and the project becomes the property of the company.

Another way to avoid paying interest, at least in name, is to form a joint venture called a musharakah. The joint venture partners buy Islamic bonds and receive a percentage of profits over the term of the loan.

Malaysia has used the deferred payment sale principle of bai' bithaman ajil. A bank buys an asset on behalf of a customer, then sells it back later for a profit. However, bai' bithaman ajil, is not acceptable to the Middle East, which has a different interpretation of Shariah, so Malaysia has been promoting financial structures that are globally compliant and can be included in the global Shariah stock indexes. Standardization also helps to reduce the cost of developing and marketing Islamic bonds.

To gauge the safety of Islamic bonds, the Islamic International Rating Agency has developed the credit-rating Shariah Quality Ratings.

Custom Search