Types of Bonds

A government bond is a bond issued by a national government denominated in the country's domestic currency. A zero-coupon bond is a bond with no coupon payments, bought at a price lower than its face value, with the face value repaid at the time of maturity. Floating rate bonds have a variable coupon equal to a money market reference rate (such as LIBOR), plus a quoted spread. Other bonds include register vs. bearer bonds, convertible bonds, exchangeable bonds, asset-backed securities, and foreign currency bonds.

Floating-Rate Bonds

Floating rate bonds are bonds that have a variable coupon equal to a money market reference rate (e.g., LIBOR), plus a quoted spread.


LEARNING OBJECTIVE

  • Describe a floating-rate bond

KEY POINTS

    • FRBs are typically quoted as a spread over the reference rate. At the beginning of each coupon period, the coupon is calculated by taking the fixing of the reference rate for that day and adding the spread. A typical coupon would look like three months USD LIBOR +0.20%.
    • FRBs carry little interest rate risk. A FRB has a duration close to zero, and its price shows very low sensitivity to changes in market rates. As FRBs are almost immune to interest rate risk. The risk that remains is a credit risk.
    • Securities dealers make markets in FRBs. They are traded over the counter, instead of on a stock exchange. In Europe, most FRBs are liquid, as the biggest investors are banks. In the United States, FRBs are mostly held to maturity, so the markets aren't as liquid.

TERMS

  • duration

    A measure of the sensitivity of the price of a financial asset to changes in interest rates, computed for a simple bond as a weighted average of the maturities of the interest and principal payments associated with it

  • floating-rate bond

    a debt instruments with a variable coupon

  • LIBOR

    The London Interbank Offered Rate is the average interest rate estimated by leading banks in London that they would be charged if borrowing from other banks.

Floating rate bonds (FRBs) are bonds that have a variable coupon, equal to a money market reference rate, like LIBOR or federal funds rate, plus a quoted spread (i.e., quoted margin). The spread is a rate that remains constant. Almost all FRBs have quarterly coupons (i.e., they pay out interest every three months), though counter examples do exist. At the beginning of each coupon period, the coupon is calculated by taking the fixing of the reference rate for that day and adding the spread. A typical coupon would look like three months USD LIBOR +0.20%.

In the United States, government sponsored enterprises (GSEs), such as the Federal Home Loan Banks, the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), are important issuers. In Europe, the main issuers are banks.


Municipal bond: Municipal bond issued in 1929 by city of Kraków (Poland).

There are many variations of floating-rate bonds. For instance, some FRBs have special features, such as maximum or minimum coupons, called "capped FRBs" and "floored FRBs". Those with both minimum and maximum coupons are called collared FRBs. Perpetual FRBs are another form of FRBs that are also called irredeemable or unrated FRBs and are akin to a form of capital. FRBs can also be obtained synthetically by the combination of a fixed rate bond and an interest rate swap. This combination is known as an "asset swap".

FRBs carry little interest rate risk. A FRB has a duration close to zero, and its price shows very low sensitivity to changes in market rates. When market rates rise, the expected coupons of the FRB increase in line with the increase in forward rates, which means its price remains constant. Thus, FRBs differ from fixed rate bonds, whose prices decline when market rates rise. As FRBs are almost immune to interest rate risk, they are considered conservative investments for investors who believe market rates will increase. The risk that remains is credit risk.

Securities dealers make markets in FRBs. They are traded over the counter, instead of on a stock exchange. In Europe, most FRBs are liquid, as the biggest investors are banks. In the United States, FRBs are mostly held to maturity, so the markets aren't as liquid. In the wholesale markets, FRBs are typically quoted as a spread over the reference rate.