什么是债券基金?
Investing in bond 基金s may offer regular fixed income and tend to have less risk than most stock 基金s. 了解什么是债券基金和不同类型的选择.
Bond 共同基金s, also known as debt 基金s offer opportunities for many 投资者 在他们的投资组合中增加一个当前收入来源. 它们的风险也往往比股票基金小. 这使得它们成为保守投资者的热门选择, people looking for immediate income and people who are looking to add some diversification to a portfolio.
什么是债券?
债券是一种贷款. 借款人, 通常是联邦政府, 州政府或市政府, 或者一家大公司, 出售债券以换取现金. 它同意定期支付利息, 通常一年两次, and then repay the amount borrowed (also called the principal or the face value) when the bond matures. The amount of interest is typically set as a percentage of the face value and usually does not change. 这就是为什么债券通常被称为 固定收益证券.
固定收入是持有债券的主要优势. 许多退休人员用这些钱来帮助别人 基金 their lifestyle; people who don't want to spend the income now can reinvest the money in their accounts.
债券的风险
As long as the bond issuer is in the financial position to repay the loan, 当贷款到期时，债券持有人将收回本金. If an issuer can't pay back the loan, the bond owner will lose the principal. 如果发行人破产了, 虽然, the bonds will have to be repaid before the stockholders receive anything. 这就是债券风险低于股票的主要原因.
It is also important to understand that the market value of the bond may fluctuate up or down until maturity because of changes in interest rates. An investor buying the bond in the open market cares about the going rates now, 不是你买债券时收到的钱. If rates go up, the bond's price will go down; if rates go down, the bond's price will go up.
什么是债券基金?
债券基金是一种 共同基金 投资, 在很大程度上, 的债券, 包括市政, 政府, 公司及可转换债券. 这些基金也可以投资于抵押贷款支持证券.
Some are managed to pay a high income, others to maintain the principal value. Still others are managed to get the best possible combination of income and principal, 即总收益. Someone looking for a regular income check might care more about the bond's ratio of income to principal, 也就是收益率. An investor looking for diversification benefits would probably care more about total return than about income.
那些愿意承担更多风险的投资者 货币市场基金 or a bank account, and are interested in generating income, may want to consider bond 基金s. 尽管它们会随着利率的波动而贬值, 它们往往是多元化投资组合中更稳定的一部分.
债券基金的种类
一些特定类型的 债券共同基金 包括:
- 投资级. These bonds are believed to carry a lower credit risk of default and receive higher ratings by major credit rating agencies. 其中包括美国政府发行的债券.S. 财政部，其他政府机构和一些公司. Many mortgage-backed securities are also rated with the investment grade classification.
- 高收益债券. 这些基金, sometimes referred to as "junk bonds" are corporate bonds that are rated below investment-grade bonds and tend to be riskier. 然而, high-yield bonds pay higher interest rates and typically provide income and total returns higher than investment-grade bond 基金s.
- 市政债券基金. 这些是由城市和州等市政当局发布的. Generally, municipal bonds have a lower yield than taxable bonds of similar credit quality. These may appeal to 投资者 because even 虽然 they may offer lower yields, the interest and income generated are sometimes free from federal taxes.
- 国际 & 全球. These bond 基金s are issued by non-domestic 政府s and corporations and invest in a range of taxable bonds, 哪一种可以使投资组合多样化. Generally, international bond 基金s are subject to higher risk and regulatory requirements.
- Multisector. 这些基金投资于一系列应税债券. A multisector 基金 may hold high-yield, Treasury, corporate and foreign bonds. The portfolios vary by maturity, issuer, credit quality and average duration. These bonds may be a good opportunity for 投资者 to increase their income potential by tapping into a broad range of exposures across sectors.
