Asset Classes Flashcards
What are redeemable shares?
Shares which may be bought back from a shareholders at the company’s election
What are the types of preference shares? (5)
Cumulative, participating, redeemable, convertible and zero coupon
What is a cumulative pref share?
This year’s dividend will be paid before ordinary shareholders along with any previous periods’ dividends
What is a participating pref share?
Shares which offer the option to participate in higher profits
What is a redeemable pref share?
Pref shares which may be bought back from a shareholder at the company’s election for a pre agreed price
What is a convertible pref share?
Where shareholder has right but not obligation to convert into a predetermined number of ordinary shares
What is a zero coupon pref share?
They shares pay no dividend but are redeemed at a price higher than original purchase price
What is a floating rate bond?
A bond which resets its interest according to changes in published interest rates
What is an index linked bond?
A bond which adjusts the coupon and principal amount repaid at maturity by reference to inflation rate
Flat yield formula
(annual coupon/price) x 100
Convertible Bond advantages (2)
Enable holder to exploit growth potential in equity
They trade at a premium to value of shares they convert into
Conversion ratio formula
nominal value/conversion price of shares
Accrued interest formula
coupon payment x (no. of days since last payment/no. of days between payments)
What is a flat/clean price of a bond?
Listed bond prices which don’t include accrued interest
What is a dirty price of a bond?
Listed bond prices which include accrued interest.
Day count conventions (4) re: interest and their uses (3)
ACT/360 where each month is treated normally and year is assumed to have 360 days - used for eurobonds
30/360 where each month is assumed to have 30 days and the year is assumed to have 360 days - used for US agency and corporate issuers
ACT/365 where each month is treated normally and the year is assumed to have 365 days regardless of leap years
ACT/ACT where each month is treated normally and the year has actual number of days i.e. including leap years - used by US Treasury
What is a spread?
The difference between the yields on two debt instruments which is represented using basis points
What does a spread tell us?
The risk associated to the holding between a benchmark and a given debt instrument
Rates used for comparison of bonds (2)
Gvt bond yields which is typically the most recently issued bond closest to maturity
Swap rates where floating rates are exchanged for fixed rates
What is a yield curve? (2)
This shows yields available to investors in gvt bonds over different time horizons
Used as a useful comparison tool between gilts and bonds as investors can expect liquidity when it slopes upwards
What is an inverted yield curve?
This is where yields available on short term gvt bonds exceed those on long term gvt bonds
With inverted yield curves, impact of interest rate falls outweighs effect of liquidity preference
What is a real yield curve?
This is where the yield on instruments already includes and uplift for inflation within their returns e.g. UK inde linked gilts or US Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS)
Present value of money formula
1/(1+interest rate) to the power of no. of yrs
Who issues gvt debt in the UK (1) and US (1)
UK - Debt Mngmnt Office (DMO)
US - Bureau of the Fiscal Service
Characteristics of gvt bonds (3)
Typically quoted on basis of price of 100 units in currency’s nominal value
When interest rates across financial markets decrease, quote price of gvt bonds increases and vice versa
Enable investors to buy/sell bonds issued by relevant gvt and are also used as benchmarks for other bonds
What is an index linked bond?
These are bonds where coupon payments and principal are adjusted in line with a published index of price inflation e.g. retail prices index
Real interest rate formula
[(1 + nominal interest rate) / (1 + inflation rate)] - 1
What does STRIPS stand for?
Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal of Securities
How do STRIPS work?
This is where a bond is “stripped” and the interest on each individual coupon is traded separately to the principal (nominal value)
What security types can be stripped? (3)
Designated gilts, US T-Notes and Bonds
Who can strip gilts? (3)
gilt edged market makers (GEMMs), Bank of England and UK Treasury
Who can reconstitute stripped gilts? (3)
GEMMs, HM Treasury and Bank of England
Intl gvt bonds with T+1 settlement (4)
US T-Notes, US T-Bonds, UK gilts, Japanese Gvt Bond (JGB)
Intl gvt bonds with T+2 settlement (4)
French OAT, German Bund, German Bobl, German Schatz