Fixed income primer 0607 (2016_01_25 03_57_23 UTC)
1. Research Insights
Investments
Fixed Income 101:
A Simple Guide to Understanding Bonds
Investment Products Offered
• Are Not FDIC Insured • May Lose Value • Are Not Bank Guaranteed
> Bonds are complex instruments, but understanding the
basics can take you a long way
> Bonds play key roles in diversified portfolios: income
generator, stabilizer and potential source of total return
> Combining bonds with stocks may create a more effective
balance between risk and return in your portfolio
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3. Bonds can confuse experienced and novice
investors alike—we’ve designed this guide to
help you understand fixed-income investing.
1
Demystifying Fixed-Income Investing
Bonds are cornerstones of well-diversified portfolios, but they come in many different
forms and they’re not so easy to understand.We designed this guide to cut through the
complexity of bonds and fixed-income investing.
Making Bonds Easier to Understand
Bonds can confuse experienced and novice investors alike.
They come with a wide variety of features and attributes,
and there are more of them every day as the number of
bond products continues to grow.To get comfortable with
bonds, there’s plenty you need to know.
We’d like to make fixed-income investing easier for you
to understand. Our goals in this guide are to:
> Describe bonds’ fundamental characteristics
> Explain the benefits of including fixed income in your
investment strategy
> Help you make well-informed fixed-income choices
We’ve also provided index descriptions and a glossary on
pages 11 and 12 that you can refer to for an explanation
of particular words or concepts.
What’s a Bond?
A bond is an investment security that functions like a
loan.When governments want to finance public-works
projects and companies want to raise money for big
capital expenditures like building new offices, they sell
bonds to investors.
In buying a bond, the investor lends money to the bond
issuer in exchange for a specific rate of interest (known
as the coupon rate) to be paid at specific intervals.
The bond’s principal (face value) is repaid at a designated
time in the future.
Bonds are like stocks to the extent that they both
channel money from investors to the issuer and trade
daily. But that’s where the similarities end: stocks are
shares of ownership in the issuing company, don’t have
to pay income, are held primarily to make a profit, and
have no maturity date.
4. Bonds pay interest in several ways.
Your specific circumstances should help
you determine which type is right for you.
2 Fixed Income 101: A Simple Guide to Understanding Bonds
The Basics of Bonds
Not all bonds are created equal—and there are thousands of them to consider.
Understanding how bonds work can help you make better decisions about your
fixed-income investments.
Interest Rates:The Key Driver of Bond Prices
It’s a fact of life in bond markets that interest rates and
bond prices tend to move in opposite directions: bond
prices usually go up when interest rates go down, and
vice versa.
It’s a simple matter of supply and demand. If interest rates
fall, existing bonds are more valuable because they pay
higher interest than newly issued bonds. If rates rise, the
opposite is true—the prices of existing bonds fall because
new bonds will pay higher interest.
This is why bond prices usually rally when investors expect
interest rates to fall, and prices tend to fall if investors
expect rates to rise.
How Bonds Pay Interest
Bonds can pay you interest in several ways. Here are some
of the most common:
> Fixed coupon. These bonds pay a fixed percentage of
the principal amount on a regular schedule (usually
twice a year), and repay the full principal at maturity.
Most bonds are fixed-coupon.
> Variable/Floating. These bonds pay interest at a rate
that’s adjusted periodically based on a benchmark like
a bank’s prime lending rate.
> Zero coupon. These bonds don’t make periodic interest
payments. Instead, investors are compensated by buying
them at a discount to their principal amount—and
receiving the full amount when the bond matures.
Interest rates and bond prices:
usually moving in opposite directions.
Bond Prices
Bond Prices
Interest Rates
Interest Rates
Source:AllianceBernstein
5. A bond’s yield is important for two reasons:
it tells you the percentage interest you’re
receiving, and can help determine whether
the bond is fairly priced.
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Yield
A bond’s yield is the rate of income it pays you, expressed
as a percentage of its current price.
For example, a $1,000 bond might pay a 5.0% coupon, or
$50. If the bond’s price is $975, then its current yield is
$50 divided by $975, or 5.1%. (Note how the bond’s yield
went up as its price went down.)
Yield is an important factor in how bonds are priced—it’s
a useful way to compare bonds and see whether a
particular bond is under- or overvalued. If two bonds have
similar characteristics but different yields, for instance,
investors might conclude that one bond’s price is
expensive or the other’s is cheap.
Maturity and Duration
A bond’s maturity refers to the date in the future when the
investor receives the bond’s principal and final interest
payment.There are three main categories of bond
maturities—short-term (up to two years), intermediate-
term (two to 10 years) and long-term (10 to 30 years).
Long-term bonds normally offer higher yields than short-
term bonds to compensate investors for taking the extra
risk of waiting many years to get their principal back.The
reverse is also true.
Duration is another key concept for bonds: it’s a
standardized way to measure the sensitivity of a bond’s
price to changes in interest rates, expressed in years.
Duration is higher in longer-maturity bonds because of
their riskiness—they’re most sensitive to changes in
interest rates, and therefore more risky.
Changes in interest rates affect bond prices.
Bond Price Bond Duration Change in Interest Rates Change in Bond Price New Bond Price
100 10 years 1% 10% 110
100 4 Years 1 4 104
100 3 Months (0.25 Year) 1 0.25 100.25
Source:AllianceBernstein
6. Credit ratings indicate a bond issuer’s
creditworthiness—higher credit quality is
associated with lower risk, and vice versa.
4 Fixed Income 101: A Simple Guide to Understanding Bonds
Quality
Quality, or credit quality, refers to the issuer’s
creditworthiness, or its ability to make interest payments
and repay principal when a bond matures.
There’s always some risk that an issuer might default and
fail to make its interest and principal payments. Independent
credit-rating agencies, notably Moody’s and Standard &
Poor’s, assess the quality of bond issuers and their
likelihood of default.They then assign bonds a credit
rating, which helps investors make informed decisions.
Credit ratings determine more than the quality of bonds:
they also help issuers set the coupon rates of bonds they
intend to issue. Lower-rated issuers will typically pay a
higher rate to compensate investors for their higher risk,
and the opposite is true for higher-quality issuers.
Consider this risk/return trade-off in credit quality when
you’re selecting bonds.And remember that lower-quality
bonds are associated with higher risk and potentially
higher returns, while higher-quality bonds generally offer
lower risk and lower returns.
Credit quality ratings for bonds assess likelihood of default.
Moody’s Rating Indicates S&P Rating
Investment Grade
Aaa Highest Quality AAA
Aa High Quality AA
A Good Quality A
Baa Medium Quality BBB
High Yield
Ba Speculative Elements BB
B Speculative B
Caa More Speculative CCC
Ca Highly Speculative CC
— In Default D
N Not Rated N
Source: Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and AllianceBernstein
7. Types of Bonds
Government Bonds
Bonds issued directly by governments, usually with
high credit ratings. Government bonds from developed
countries are generally guaranteed by the issuing
government.
Corporate Bonds
Bonds issued by companies to help finance their
business.These bonds are usually riskier than
government bonds, so their yields are higher.They have a
broad range of ratings and yields because issuers’
financial health can vary widely. Higher-rated corporate
bonds are referred to as investment-grade, while lower-
rated corporates are known as high-yield.
Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS)
Securities representing pools of loans issued by financial
institutions to finance a borrower’s purchase of a home
or other real estate. MBS investors receive payments of
interest and principal when borrowers make their
mortgage payments. Other types of mortgage-related
securities include collateralized mortgage obligations
and commercial MBS.
Asset-Backed Securities (ABS)
Bonds or notes backed by financial assets like credit-card
receivables, auto loans, manufactured-housing contracts
and home-equity loans.ABS differ from other types of
bonds in the way their credit quality is assessed—it’s
determined by factors other than the issuer’s ability to
repay the loan, such as the way the security is structured.
Municipal Bonds
Bonds issued by a U.S. municipality (typically a state,
county, city or municipal agency).Their yields appear
lower than most comparable taxable bonds. But interest
income from most municipals isn’t taxable at the federal
level and, in many cases, states don’t tax the income
from municipals of in-state issuers—so municipals may
actually yield more than taxables on an after-tax basis.
Convertible Bonds
Bonds that can be exchanged for a fixed number of the
issuing company’s shares at a preset conversion price.
The investor usually pays a premium over the conversion
value, reflecting the fact that the bond pays interest until
it’s converted.
International Bonds
Bonds issued by non-U.S. countries or corporations in
both developed and emerging economies.They’re usually
denominated in their home currency, but sometimes are
denominated in another currency.
Emerging-Market Bonds
Bonds issued by governments and corporations in
emerging economies like Russia and Brazil. These
bonds often have lower credit ratings and their prices
can be particularly volatile due to political and
economic instability.
5
8. Bonds can play multiple roles in your portfolio:
generating income, stabilizing assets to reduce
risk, and enhancing total return.
6 Fixed Income 101: A Simple Guide to Understanding Bonds
Understanding the Role of Bonds
It’s easy to think of bonds simply as securities that generate income and don’t move around
a lot. But they’re much more than that: they can be a flexible and vital component of a well-
balanced long-term portfolio.
Diverse Roles: Income, Stabilizer and Core
At AllianceBernstein, we strongly believe in the importance
of well-diversified, sound portfolios built for the long haul.
Bonds can play several key roles in your long-term
investment strategy.
First, there’s the traditional source of income. Bonds
pay regular coupons, which can provide your portfolio
with income.
Bonds can also act as portfolio stabilizers.As we’ll see,
bonds can offset some of the risk of other asset classes
like stocks, and keep your portfolio’s ride smooth even as
financial markets get bumpy.
Finally, bonds can serve as what we call a “core” holding
for their potentially attractive total return—a combination
of income and price appreciation.
Diversification
A well-balanced portfolio contains an assortment of
asset classes and investment styles that perform
differently in varying market cycles. It’s a concept known
as low-correlation investing. Stocks and bonds are classic
low-correlating asset classes.
Low-correlation investing allows investors to effectively
diversify their portfolios.And diversification offers two
essential benefits: reducing risk and adding more potential
sources of return.Think about it—by spreading your
portfolio eggs among several baskets, weak eggs hurt
the portfolio less, and there are more eggs that might
be strong.
Bonds’ diversification value is high because
their correlation with U.S. stocks is low.
U.S. Treasuries
U.S. Investment-Grade Bonds
Mortgage Bonds
Municipal Bonds
Global Bonds
Global Treasuries
Emerging-Market Debt
Global High-Yield Bonds
Correlation to U.S. Stocks
1996–2006
No Correlation (1.0)
High Correlation 1.0
As of December 31, 2006
Source: CSFB, Factset SPAR and Lehman Brothers
U.S. stocks are represented by the S&P 500. U.S.Treasuries are repre-
sented by the Lehman Brothers U.S.Treasury Index. Global Treasuries
are represented by the Lehman Brothers Global Treasury Index. U.S.
investment-grade bonds are represented by the Lehman Brothers U.S.
Aggregate Bond Index. Global bonds are represented by the Lehman
Brothers Global Aggregate Bond Index. Global high-yield bonds are
represented by the Lehman Brothers Global High Yield Index. Emerging-
markets debt is represented by the JP Morgan Emerging Markets Bond
Index Plus. Mortgage bonds are represented by the Lehman Brothers
MBS Fixed Rate Index. Municipal bonds are represented by the Lehman
Brothers Municipal Bond Index. See page 11 for benchmark definitions.
9. 7
Bonds Work Especially Well with Stocks
Bonds and stocks are particularly effective low-correlating
asset classes, they work especially well in combination. In
the past four decades or so, bonds made money in every
bear stock market—sometimes lots of it.
Investors often hesitate to include fixed-income securities
in their portfolios due to a common misconception that
bonds will slow the upside growth potential of stocks.
But adding bonds may substantially reduce the risk of an
all-stock portfolio while still allowing you to benefit from
the greater return potential of stocks.
Adding bonds may reduce the risk of an
all-equity portfolio.
3 6 9 12 15
6
9
12
15
Annualized
1996–2006
Return (%)
Risk (%)
100% bonds
80% stocks/
20% bonds
100%
U.S. stocks
60% stocks/
40% bonds
30% stocks/
70% bonds
Benefit of diversification
Past performance does not guarantee future results.
The risk/return spectrum is based on historical information and cannot
be used to predict the future volatility or performance of a particular
blend of U.S. stocks and bonds. Risk is measured by the standard devia-
tion of monthly returns.
U.S. stocks are represented by the S&P 500 Index. U.S. bonds are repre-
sented by the Lehman Brothers U.S.Aggregate Bond Index.
See page 11 for index descriptions.
Source: Lehman Brothers and AllianceBernstein
Bonds have made money in bear stock markets.
U.S. Stock
Returns
U.S. Bond
Returns
Dec 68–Jun 70 (29.2)% 4.7%
Jan 73–Sep 74 (42.6) 7.1
Jan 77–Feb 78 (14.3) 3.2
Dec 80–Jul 82 (16.5) 21.6
Sep 87–Nov 87 (29.6) 2.2
Jun 90–Oct 90 (14.7) 3.0
May 98–Aug 98 (13.4) 3.6
Apr 00–Mar 03 (36.1) 32.4
Average (24.5)% 9.7%
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
U.S. stocks are represented by the S&P 500 with monthly dividends
reinvested. U.S. bonds are represented by the 10-year U.S.Treasury
bond for periods before 1977, and by the Lehman Brothers U.S.
Aggregate Bond Index thereafter.Treasury securities provide fixed
rates of return as well as principal guarantees if held to maturity.
See page 11 for index descriptions.
Source: Lehman Brothers, Standard & Poor’s and AllianceBernstein
10. 8 Fixed Income 101: A Simple Guide to Understanding Bonds
It’s Much More Than a One-Person Job
No matter how comfortable you are with bonds, it’s very
hard to manage a diversified bond portfolio on your own:
it’s a full-time job that takes a lot of resources and
specialized knowledge.
Individuals aren’t equipped to deal with the bond market’s
sheer complexity and size—it dwarfs the size of the stock
market.And emotions create fear and euphoria that can
push bond prices to irrational extremes.
Professionals Have the Tools
Professional managers have the tools to run bond
portfolios: research, technology, investment process and
expertise built up over many years.
It takes a lot of research to evaluate individual bonds and
different market sectors. Economists, credit analysts, sector
specialists and quantitative analysts all play roles in
identifying opportunities and avoiding potential pitfalls.
Portfolio managers look at the big picture and put it all
together.They find combinations of bonds that generate
the best balances of risk and reward.
If managing your bond portfolio is a big job shouldn’t you
leave it to a professional?
The Importance of Professional Management
Understanding how bonds work is one thing, but weaving them into a sound portfolio is
quite another. It’s worth it to have your portfolio managed by fixed-income professionals—
they know what to look for and can put it all together for you.
The bond market dwarfs the size of the
stock market.
Stocks Bonds
Global market index MSCI World
Lehman Brothers
Global Aggregate
Number of index issues 1,904 11,042
An investor cannot invest directly in an index. See page 11 for index
descriptions.
As of December 31, 2006
Source: Lehman Brothers, MSCI and AllianceBernstein
Analyzing bonds is a multidimensional task.
Buy,
avoid
or sell?
Sector
Country/
Region
Duration
Structure
Industry/
Company
Source:AllianceBernstein
11. Diversified bond portfolios offer broad
exposure to the bond market in a single
vehicle—they make bond investing easier.
9
Sector-Specific Portfolios
Professional fixed-income managers can manage all kinds
of bond portfolios.What are some of the most common?
Perhaps the simplest are portfolios that invest only in
bonds of a certain sector.There are many sectors, and we
defined the primary ones on page 5: government bonds,
investment-grade corporate bonds, high-yield corporate
bonds, mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities,
municipal bonds, convertible bonds, international bonds
and emerging-market bonds.
There are plenty of diversification opportunities within each
sector. Municipal bonds, for example, span a wide range of
locations, issuer types and credit ratings. Emerging-market
portfolios can choose among bonds issued by numerous
governments and companies in the emerging world,
denominated in domestic or other currencies.
Diversified Portfolios
For investors who want broad exposure to the bond
market in a single vehicle, a diversified bond portfolio
makes more sense.There are many different flavors of
diversified portfolios.
> Core portfolios include only higher-quality U.S. gov-
ernment and corporate bonds.They’re called “Core”
because higher-quality bonds tend to be most stable—
diversified investors would want to own them as a core
part of their overall investment portfolio.
> Core Plus simply means Core with a modest portion
of assets invested in lower-quality issues like high-yield-
corporate or emerging-market bonds.Adding these bonds
further diversifies the portfolio and may enhance return.
> Global portfolios own government and corporate bonds
from around the world.Their sector mixes can emphasize
varying geographies, issuer types or credit ratings.
12. Talk to your financial advisor about fixed
income, how it could benefit you, and how
AllianceBernstein could turn bond basics into
investment reality.
10 Fixed Income 101: A Simple Guide to Understanding Bonds
Putting Bonds to Work for You
When it comes to fixed income, a little knowledge can go a long way.The benefits are big: a
broader perspective, more effective portfolio diversification and better investment decisions.
AllianceBernstein can help you put bonds to work in your portfolio.
It’s easy to get lost in the world of fixed income.There are
so many bonds with so many features and details to
know—trying to understand it all can be overwhelming.
But even a basic knowledge of bonds and what they can
do for you can be powerful. Knowing key concepts like
how interest rates affect bond prices, or how maturity and
credit quality are related to risk, can sharpen your focus
and improve your investment choices.
And that’s only a part of what knowing bond basics can
do for you.They also help you appreciate the bigger
picture: how fixed income fits into your overall portfolio.
Understanding that bonds are an important piece of the
puzzle can make a real difference in enhancing your long-
term investment performance.
That’s where AllianceBernstein comes in.We can help
you make sense out of the fixed-income world, and use
that knowledge to design portfolios that meet your
investment goals.
13. 11
Common Benchmarks
Did my investment outperform or underperform the market? For the answer, investors
usually turn to market indices or benchmarks—collections of securities that represent
capital markets ranging from individual sectors to the entire world. Here are some of the
more common bond benchmarks.
Fixed-Income Benchmarks:
U.S.Treasuries are represented by the Lehman Brothers U.S.
Treasury Index, which includes public obligations of the U.S.
Treasury that have remaining Treasuries of one year or more.
Global Treasuries are represented by the Lehman Brothers
Global Treasury Index, which includes investment-grade,
local-currency denominated sovereign debt that is fixed-rate,
nonconvertible and has at least a year to maturity.
U.S. investment-grade bonds are represented by the Lehman
Brothers U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, which covers the U.S.
investment-grade fixed-rate bond market, including govern-
ment and credit securities, agency mortgage passthrough
securities, asset-backed securities and commercial mortgage-
backed securities.
Global investment grade bonds are represented by the Lehman
Brothers Global Aggregate Bond Index, it’s designed to track
the global investment-grade bond market, which includes
different types of bonds from around the world.
Global high-yield bonds are represented by the Lehman
Brothers Global High Yield Index, which provides a broad-based
measure of the global high-yield fixed-income markets
Emerging market debt is represented by the JP Morgan
Emerging Market Bond Index Plus, which tracks total
returns for US$ denominated external debt instruments in the
emerging markets.
Mortgages are represented by the Lehman Brothers MBS Fixed
Rate Index, which covers the mortgage-backed passthrough
securities of Ginnie Mae (GNMA), Fannie Mae (FNMA) and
Freddie Mac (FHLMC).
Municipal bonds are represented by the Lehman Brothers
Municipal Bond Index, which is a broad-market performance
benchmark for the tax-exempt bond market.To be included,
bonds must have a minimum credit rating of at least Baa, a
remaining maturity of at least one year and be issued as part of
a transaction of at least $50 million.
Equity Benchmarks:
U.S. stocks are represented by the S&P 500, which is an unman-
aged index composed of 500 stocks traded on U.S. exchanges.
It’s a common measure of the overall performance of the U.S.
stock market.
International stocks are represented by the MSCI World ex-U.S.
Index, which is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index
that is designed to measure global developed-market equity
performance, excluding the United States.
Growth stocks are represented by the Russell 1000 Growth
Index, which measures the performance of the 1,000 largest U.S.
companies based on market capitalization with higher price-to-
book ratios and higher forecasted growth values.
Value stocks are represented by the Russell 1000 Value Index,
which measures the performance of the 1,000 largest U.S.
companies based on market capitalization with lower price-to-
book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.
An investor cannot invest directly in an index, and its performance does not reflect the performance of any AllianceBernstein mutual fund.
14. 12 Fixed Income 101: A Simple Guide to Understanding Bonds
Glossary
Active Management
An investment approach that seeks
to outperform the market by applying
informed, independent judgment. Its
opposite is passive management, or
“indexing,” which seeks to replicate
market performance.
Asset Allocation
An investor’s global mix of stocks, bonds,
cash equivalents and other assets.
Callable Bond
A bond that the issuer can redeem on
a specific date prior to maturity for a
stated price, typically when interest
rates fall. Callability represents a risk
for bondholders, who are compensated
by extra yield—which may or may not
be adequate.
Capital Gain (or Loss)
Increase (or decrease) in the market value
of a stock, bond, or other investment
asset. If the asset is sold, relevant tax
laws apply.
Correlation
The degree to which two assets behave
alike under the same conditions.The
lower the correlation—the less they
behave alike—the more each diversifies
the other, and the more the two reduce
portfolio risk when combined.
Developed Markets
The capital markets of industrialized
countries with mature economies, such
as the U.S., Japan, Canada and most of
Western Europe.
Discount Bonds
Bonds issued below face value, or selling
below face value because their interest
payments are lower than prevailing rates.
Diversification
Investing in more than one type of asset
at the same time in order to reduce risk.
As diversification rises, the investor’s risk
typically falls.
Duration
A standardized measure of a bond’s
sensitivity to changes in interest rates,
expressed in years.A bond’s price will
move roughly 1% for every 1% move
in rates.
Fixed-Income Securities
Bonds, notes, bills, and similar securi-
ties representing loans to issuers like
governments, government agencies, or
corporations for a stated period at a
stated interest rate.
Par Bonds
Bonds issued or selling at face value.
Premium Bonds
Bonds issued above face value, or selling
above face value because their interest
payments are higher than prevailing
interest rates.
Putable Bonds
Bond investors can “put” these bonds—
that is, force the issuer to repurchase
them at specified dates before maturity.
The repurchase price is set at the time of
issue, and is usually face value.
Total Return
The sum of a bond’s income return and
any change in its market value.
Volatility
Variability, fluctuation—a common
measure of investment risk. It’s the range
of an investment’s movement over a
given period: the wider the range, the
higher the volatility.
Yield
Interest or dividends paid as a percentage
of a security’s price, one of two compo-
nents of investment return. “Yield” differs
from total return because yield doesn’t
include the other component: any change
in the security’s market value.
Yield Curve
A line chart illustrating the yields on
bonds of different maturities at a given
time, ranging from the shortest-term
securities on the left to the longest-term
on the right.The line normally is a convex
curve, since yields tend to increase
sharply from one maturity to the next
for shorter-term bonds and much more
slowly thereafter.
Yield to Maturity
A bond’s yield to maturity (YTM) reflects
the annualized return of the bond if held
to maturity. In calculating yield to matu-
rity, the bondholder takes into account
the difference between the price paid for
a bond and par value.
