Different Bond Types – An Overview
Investors can buy different bond types in their portfolio. It is good having different bond types because of diversification. A portfolio should be properly allocated and diversified. Different bonds offer different risks, maturities, interest rates and terms. Bond types are usually classified according to the issuer but sometimes they are categorized based on their characteristics. A bond issuer can issue bonds of different characteristics. Examples of different bond types are given below.
A corporate bond is a type of bond that is issued by a corporation, rather than a government, an agency or other types of issuers. Again, a corporation can issue bonds with different characteristics which some investors may refer to as different bond types. Corporate bonds are often more risky than bonds issued by the US government and municipal bonds. When investing in bonds you need to pay attention to the bond ratings.
If safety is your primary concern, then investing in US treasury issues is the way to go. US Treasury issues are backed by the full faith and credit of the US government. There are a few different bond types issued by the US government such as T-bills, T-bonds, and T-notes. T-bills are short for Treasury bills, T-bonds for Treasury bonds and T-notes for Treasury notes. T-bills have the shortest maturity dates and are good for short term investments if yield is not the investor’s primary objective.
Agency bonds are also relatively safe. Agency bonds may not be as safe as the US government bonds since they are issued by agencies related to the government. Different bond types issued by agencies may or may not have the full backing of the US government. Some agency bonds are riskier than others. Examples of agency bonds are bonds issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
If you want the added tax benefits of investing in bonds, then municipal bonds is the type of bond that can offer tax benefits. Municipal bonds are issued by municipalities such as cities, states, towns, and schools. There are also different bond types issued by municipal issuers. Municipal bonds are issued in order to finance a large scale project such as building a road or a bridge. In general, municipal bonds are considered safe investments.
While most of the different bond types are classified according to the type of issuer that issue them, there are different bond types that are classified based on their characteristics. A zero coupon bond, for example, can be issued by many different types of issuer but the bonds always pay no interests unlike other bond types that pay regular interests and the principal at the end. When building your bond portfolio, you need to include many different bond types, of different characteristics, not simply just bonds issued by different types of issuers.
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