Chapter 2: Debt Securities Flashcards
Funded Debt
Corporate Bonds with maturities of five years or more.
Coupon
Interest rate that is calculated from the bond’s par value. Interest accrues daily and is paid in semiannual installments over the life of the bond.
Par Value (Face Value)
Normally $1000 per bond, meaning each bond will be redeemed for $1000 when it matures.
Define Bond: 5M ABC J&J 15 8s ‘09
5M: 5 $1000 Bonds, for $5000
ABC: Issuer of the bond; corporate bonds have 3 letter names.
J&J 15: Bond pays interest on Jan 15 and July 15 each year. If there is no #, assume it is paid of the 1st of the month.
8s: The bond pays a stated rate of interest of 8% annually.
‘09: Investor will receive principal at bond’s maturity in 2009.
3 types of Bond Maturities
- Term Maturity
- Serial Maturity
- Balloon Maturity
Term Maturity
Structured so that the principal of the whole issue matures at once. Because they have to pay it all back at once, issuers may establish sinking fund accounts to accumulate money to retire the bonds at maturity.
Serial Maturity
Schedules portions of the principal to mature at intervals over a period of years until the entire balance has been repaid.
Balloon Maturity
Uses both elements of Term and Serial Maturity. Issuer repays part of the bond’s principal before the final maturity date, but pays off the major portion of the bond at maturity.
Series Issues
When a company issues bonds over a period of years instead of offering them all at one time to investors, to spread out its borrowing over years.
What does a Bond Certificate have on it?
- Name of Issuer
- Interest Rate & Payment Date
- Maturity Date
- Call Features
- Principal Amount
- CUSIP number
- Dated Date - Date interest starts accruing
- Reference to the bond indenture
Are Bonds registered?
Yes, in varying degrees, to record ownership should a certificate be lost or stolen. This has only been common in the United States since the 1970’s.
Coupon (bearer) Bonds
There is no record of who owns this bond, whoever is in possession of it and clip a “coupon” off of it and turn it in to the issuers paying agent to receive interest payment. This is where the term coupon comes from.
Fully Registered Bond
Attached to both Principal and interest. A Transfer agent has a list and updates it as ownership changes. Interest payments are automatically sent to bondholders of record. When a bond is sold, the Transfer Agent cancels the seller’s certificate and issues a new one to the buyer. Most corporate bonds are done this way.
Registered to Principal Only Bond
Has owners name printed on the certificate, but the coupons are in bearer form. Bonds issued to principal only are no longer issued.
Book-Entry Bonds
These bond owners do not receive certificates. Rather, the transfer agent maintains the security’s ownership records. A book-entry bond owner does not receive a certificate like a Fully Registered Bond owner. Most US Government bonds are available in book-entry form only.
Bearer Bond Denominations
$1000 or $5000 (remember: no longer issued)
Registered Bond Denominations
$1000 denominations in multiples of $1000 up to $100,000 (Ex. $5,000, $10,000, $20,000)
Which form must a bond be in to receive interest and principal payments by mail?
Fully Registered or book-entry. Either one.
2 main things that affect a bond’s market price?
Interest Rates and Issuer’s Financial Stability
Basis Point
1/100 of 1%
How are corporate bond quotes commonly stated?
Percentages of Par in increments of 1/8.
Example: Quote of 98 1/8% = 98.125% or $981.25
5 Criteria used to rate Corporate and Municipal Bonds
- Amount and composition of existing debt
- Stability of the issuer’s cash flow
- Issuer’s ability to meeting scheduled payments of interest and principal on it’s debt obligations.
- Asset protection
- Management Capability
3 Qualitative factors when rating bonds
- Industry Stability
- Quality of Management
- Regulatory Claim
GO Bonds (in reference to municipal bonds)
Backed by the municipalities ability to tax. Generally safer than Rev Bonds
Revenue Bonds (in reference to municipal bonds)
Backed by revenue from the facility it financed.
Corporate Debt safety ranking
- Secured Bonds
- Debentures
- Subordinated Debt
- Income Bonds
8 Main factors that affect a Bond’s liquidity
- Size of Issue
- Quality
- Rating
- Maturity
- Call Features
- Coupon Rate and Current MV
- Issuer
- Existence of a sinking fund
Debt Service
The schedule of interest and principal payments due on a bond issue.
Who is an issuer’s Sinking Fund operated by?
The bond’s trustee
Who typically creates a sinking fund?
Lower-rated issuers do to make their issues more marketable (liquid)
Call Feature
Allows the issuer to redeem a bond issue before its maturity date. Issuer notifies bondholders it will call the bonds on a particular date at a particular price. In a partial call, the bonds called are selected by lottery.
Call Premium
The difference between Call Price and Par. It is a price higher than par.
4 Advantages of a Call to the Issuer
- If interest rates decline, the issuer can redeem bonds with a high interest rate and replace them with bonds with a lower rate.
- The issuer can call bonds to reduce its debt.
- The issuer can replace short-term debt with long-term debt and vice-versa.
- Can call bonds as a means of forcing the conversion of convertible corporate bonds.
How are Serial Bonds called?
Usually in inverse order because longer maturities tend to have higher interest rates. Calling longer maturities lowers the issuers interest payments by the largest amount.
Tendering
When an issuer buys bonds back in the open market to reduce a portion of its debt.
Call Risk
When a bond holder is forced to replace a relatively high fixed-income investment with one that pays less. This is because bonds are typically called when general interest rates are lower than they were when the bonds were issued.
Non-callable Period
A newly issued bond normally has this and it is typically 5 to 10 years and provides some call risk protection to investors.
Call Protection Feature
An advantage investors in periods of declining interest rates.
What happens to a Called Bond after the call notice is issued?
It trades on the open market at a slight discount to the call price. This way the investor does not have to wait for the call date to get his money. They can also just hold and wait to redeem them to the issuer.
Refunding
The practice of raising funds to call a bond. Typically an issuer sells a new bond issue to generate funds to retire an existing issue. This can occur in part or in full.
Pre-refunding (advance refunding)
A new issue is sold at a lower coupon before the original bond issue can be called. Issuers do this to lock in a favorable interest rate. This is a form of defeasance, or termination of the issuer’s obligation. Pre-refunded bonds are considered defeased and no longer part of the issuer’s debt.
Crossover Refunding
A method of advance refunding in which the revenue stream originally pledged to secure the refunded bonds continues to be used to pay debt service on those bonds until they mature or are called in by the issuer. Then, the advance refunded dollars are used to pay off the original (refunded) bond issue, and the revenues pledged from the original issue “crossover” to now pay debt service on the new bonds.
5 Main Facts about Pre-refunded Bonds
- They are AAA Rated.
- They are considered defeased
- The funds are escrowed in Government securities
- The marketability of the pre-refunded bond increases.
- Once pre-refunded, the issue is no longer considered part of the outstanding debt of the issuer.
Tender Offer
When an issuer offers to buy back an issue at a premium price as an inducement to get holders to tender their bonds.
Puttable Bonds
Bonds that include a put option, which gives the holder the right to sell the bond back to the issuer at full face value. This reduces the holders market risk (interest rate risk), and generally has a lower interest rate because of this. Most commonly found in municipal bonds.
Bond Yield
Expresses the cash interest payments in relation to the bond’s value. Bonds can ALSO be quoted and traded in terms of their yield as well as a percentage of par.
How is yield determined?
Yield is determined by the issuer’s credit quality, prevailing interest rates, time to maturity, and call features.
Nominal Yield (Coupon Yield)
Set at issuance and printed on the face of the bond. It is a fixed percentage of the bond’s par value. It is an annual rate, so a Coupon Yield of 6% is $60 per year (could be paid in separate payments) on a $1000 par bond.
Current Yield
Measures a bond’s coupon payment relative to its market price.
Coupon Payment / Market Price = Current Yield
When a bond trades at a discount, current yield increases.
When a bond trades at a premium, current yield decreases
Yield to Maturity (AKA Basis)
Reflects the annualized return of the bond if held to maturity. This takes into account the difference between the price paid for a bond and par value.
[Annual Interest - (Premium / Years to Maturity)] / (Average Price of the Bond)
Bond’s Average Price
[Price paid + Amount received at Maturity (Par)] / 2
Basis
Another term for Yield to Maturity.
Example: A 4% bond trading on a 5% basis is trading at a price to yield 5% to maturity.
Yield to Call
Reflects the early redemption date and consequent acceleration of the discount gain or premium loss from the purchase price. The sooner a bond is called, the sooner the premium an investor paid is lost.
Yield Curve
The difference in yields between short-term and long-term bonds of the same quality.
Normal Yield Curve
The difference between short-term and long-term rates is about three percentage points (300 basis points) but may be much larger or smaller at any given time.
Inverted (Negative) Yield Curve
When long-term interest rates are lower than short-term rates.
Flat Yield Curve
Long-term and short-term interest rates are the same.
Do long-term or short-term bond prices change more with a change in interest rates?
Long-term. Think of it like a whip, the handle slightly moves and the end of it whips back and forth.
If two bonds have the same time to maturity, which one will move more in price as rates fall
The one with the lower coupon. Given a change in interest rates, discounts tend to move more in price than premiums.
2 Primary types of Corporate Bonds
Secured & Unsecured
Secured Bond
Issuer has identified specific assets as collateral for interest and principal payments. A trustee holds the title to the assets, and in a Default the bondholder can lay claim to the collateral.
Mortgage Bonds
Have the highest priority among all claims on assets pledged as collateral. Although they are considered relatively safe, individual bonds are only as secure as the assets that secure them.
Open-End Indentures
Permits the corporation to issue more bonds of the same class later. Subsequent issues are secured by the same collateral and have equal liens on the property.
Closed-End Indentures
Does not permit the corporation to issue more bonds of the same class in the future. Any subsequent issue has a subordinate claim on the collateral.
Prior Lien Bonds
These take seniority over 1st lien bonds, but must be approved by 1st mortgage bondholders before they can be issued. Typically used when a company is in distress
Collateral Trust Bonds
Issued by corporations that own securities in other companies as investments. These bonds are secured by a pledge of those securities as collateral. Typically a covenant is included requiring that a trustee hold the pledged securities.
What can a Collateral Trust Bond be backed by?
- Another company’s stocks and bonds.
- Stocks and bonds of partially or wholly owned subsidiaries.
- Pledging company’s prior lien long-term bonds that have been held in trust to secure short-term bonds.
- Installment payments or other obligations of the corporations clients.
Equipment Trust Certificates (ETCs, AKA Equipment Notes or Bonds)
Used by railroad, airlines, trucking companies, and oil companies to finance the purchase of capital equipment. They are issued Serially so that the amount outstanding goes down year to year in line with the depreciating value of the collateral. Titles are held in trust, usually a bank, until all certificates are paid in full.
Unsecured Bonds
No specific collateral backing and are classified as either debentures or subordinated debentures.
Debentures
Backed by the general credit of the issuing corporation, and a debenture is considered a general creditor of the company.
Subordinated Debentures
Paid last of all debt obligations, including general creditors, in case of liquidation. Typically offer higher yields and often have conversion features.