Fixed Income – a refresher
This article is designed to satisfy a couple of subscriber requests to offer more core information about fixed income investing.
The asset class that comprises Gilts, Treasuries, Eurobonds, corporate bonds, elements of bank capital, assorted ‘notes’, private credit and the like has been an important investment opportunity for centuries but most beginner investors will, at best, have as their only acquired knowledge of the fixed income market some knowledge of National Savings Certificates.
I freely admit that it took me several years of day-to-day involvement in investment markets as an adviser to feel intuitively comfortable thinking about fixed income (henceforth interchangeably called ‘bonds’ as well, although bonds is a looser term). That was the case even though I had formal training in corporate finance as a Chartered Secretary and had experience of over a decade working for a mortgage bank. It’s not a subject that one can skim over and grasp.
I have procrastinated about writing this sort of article until now as even an introduction or refresher requires quite a lot of words. I hope what follows is digestible and useful.
