Education

The fixed income asset class covers a broad range of investments: deposits, bonds, hybrids and securitised investments such as asset backed securities and residential mortgage backed securities. Eight reasons to consider investing in some of the fixed income securities listed above: Diversification – you can access governments, companies and investments...

An ETF is an open-ended investment fund, similar to a traditional managed fund, that is traded on the ASX – just like any share. ETFs aim to closely track the performance of a given index or asset class and provide the returns of that index or asset class –...

As more Australians increase their allocations to government and corporate bonds, it is important to understand the two different ways you can make an investment. Just like shares, you can either buy and sell them directly or you can have someone else manage them for you. In the fixed income...

Bonds are useful in different economic conditions. Fixed rate bonds provide certainty in declining interest rate environments, floating rate notes pay a fluctuating rate of return and are often sought after when interest rates are rising. While inflation linked bonds are a very good long term hedge against rising...

This month AMP issued a new hybrid. AMP planned to raise $200m via an issue of Capital Notes 2 (ASX code: AMPPB) securities, which it exceeded, raising $275m. The securities are perpetual, convertible, subordinated, non cumulative, unsecured notes and the proceeds used to fund “one or more APRA-regulated entities...

What is a bond? Companies often need to raise external funds to grow. There are two ways they can do this: Raise equity by issuing shares Take on debt by borrowing money Practically all companies use banks to borrow, but companies can also by-pass the banks and borrow from investors by...

Bonds are useful in different economic conditions. Fixed rate bonds provide certainty in declining interest rate environments, floating rate notes pay a fluctuating rate of return and are often sought after when interest rates are rising. While inflation linked bonds are a very good long term hedge against rising...

One of the greatest advantages to ETFs is their liquidity. In fact, even when there isn’t a great volume of ETFs being traded on the exchange at a point in time, the ‘open-ended’ nature of ETFs mean that they should still be at least as liquid as the underlying...

Non-government debt, also known as credit or corporate bonds, is a key part of the broader fixed income universe. Historical performance data shows that credit has favourable risk and return characteristics that can complement an allocation to cash, government debt, and riskier assets such as equities. However, credit is a broad...

The Australian Commonwealth government along with the states and territories issue bonds to help pay for goods and services they provide. Globally, other sovereigns and their states and municipalities as well as government run entities also issue bonds. Combined, global government bonds make up a large percentage of the...