A bond is a type of loan that the investor makes to a government, company, or organization.
So, bonds are basically IOUs (“I Owe You”) that can be traded in financial markets.
The amount the bond issuer (“borrower”) promises to repay at maturity. Usually, €1,000 or $1,000 for corporate/government bonds.
The fixed (or sometimes variable) interest payment the bondholder receives, usually expressed as an annual percentage of the face value. Example: A €1,000 bond with a 5% coupon pays €50 per year.
The date when the bond issuer must pay back the face value to the investor. Example: A 10-year bond issued in 2025 will mature in 2035.
The annualized (theoretical) total return an investor earns if hold a bond until maturity, assuming all coupon payments are reinvested at the same rate. YTM includes coupon income + price gain/loss, assuming no default.
It’s the most common way to compare bonds with different coupons and maturities on an apples-to-apples basis.
For bond ETFs, which hold many bonds and don’t have a fixed maturity date, YTM is an aggregate estimate based on the bonds inside the ETF. So, YTM for an ETF is reported as the weighted average YTM of all its bonds today.
Higher yield = higher risk. If yield is high need to understand why it's high.
The YTM is best estimate only if an investor holds the ETF long enough for the portfolio to "roll down the yield curve" and offset price changes (for natural price growth to compensate for any losses in the market). This period (in years) is roughly equal to the fund's (effective) duration (another key metric).
The lowest (theoretical) yield an investor could earn if the bond is called (callable / redeemable bonds) or matures earlier than expected.
Protects an investor from being misled by high coupons on callable bonds (e.g., if interest rates drop, the issuer may refinance and call the bond away).
For ETFs: Reported as a portfolio average of the underlying bonds’ YTW.
The actual cash an investor could receive from the ETF over the past year, divided by today's price. Shows the “real cash yield” an investor receives today, unlike YTM/YTW which are theoretical forward-looking measures. It changes monthly based on actual payments.
A standardized measure showing what an investor would earn annually if the ETF kept paying at its current rate for a year, minus fees. Based on the last 30 days, so it's more current than distribution yield. Useful for comparing ETFs fairly.
A measure of a bond’s price sensitivity to changes in interest rates, expressed in years.
For every 1% increase in interest rates, the price of a bond ETF will fall by approximately its duration number.
Example: A duration of 5 (years) means the bond’s price will fall ~5% if rates rise 1%, and rise ~5% if rates fall 1%. For ETFs it is an average portfolio duration. One of the most powerful predictors of how certain bond ETF will react to rate moves.
A rating (AAA, AA, A, BBB, etc.) that reflects the probability of default. Lower credit quality means higher yield but also higher risk. ETFs show the weighted average rating of all their bonds.
This is related to maturity profile, which strongly affects several of the metrics above (especially duration and yield). Maturity profile is a fundamental driver of both yield and risk, and when comparing ETFs, investors often check this right next to metrics like YTM and duration.
Fixed interest amount based on the face value (set when the bond is issued).
The actual return an investor earns, which depends on the bond’s market price.
So, coupon is fixed by the contract, but yield changes as bond prices move in the market.
A bond ETF is a basket of many bonds (government, corporate, etc.) that trades like a stock. Instead of buying one bond, an investor buys a small share of a large portfolio of bonds. The ETF manager takes care of buying, selling, and reinvesting bonds — and investor just buys ETF shares.
For example, if investor buys one share of a U.S. Treasury ETF, the investor indirectly owns tiny pieces of hundreds of U.S. government bonds.
That’s why ETFs don’t have a maturity date: old bonds keep getting replaced by new ones.
With a bond, and investor can “wait it out” until maturity. With an ETF, an investor does not have a fixed end date — ETF value depends on the market.
So instead of receiving a single bond’s coupon twice a year, investors in a bond ETF typically get smaller, regular payments (in distributing ETFs) or see steady growth of value (in accumulating ETFs).
NAV = total value of all bonds in the ETF ÷ number of ETF shares. It changes every day, because bond prices go up and down.
On the stock market, the ETF’s trading price is usually very close to NAV due to an arbitrage mechanism involving institutional investors who create and redeem ETF shares to keep the prices in alignment. Although differences can arise from factors like time zone differences, market volatility, and the specific nature of the underlying assets, leading to brief periods of premiums or discounts
Even if the bonds are from a strong government or company (low credit risk), investors may still lose money because:
Investor buys a 10-year government bond ETF today. And interest rates rise sharply tomorrow. Usual consequences are following:
The chance the issuer will fail to make payments (interest or principal (face value)).
The risk that rising market interest rates will make old bonds less valuable.
Bad for existing bonds. New bonds pay more, so old bonds with a lower rate becomes less valuable. If an investor sells it before it matures, the investor will likely get less money than paid for bond. Bond ETF prices will (should) go down.
An investor (bondholder) holds a 5% bond, but new bonds now pay 6%. Nobody will pay €1,000 for the 5% bond, since they can get 6% elsewhere. So, 5% bond’s price must drop until its yield matches the market.
Good for existing bonds. New bonds pay less, so old bond with a higher rate becomes more valuable. If and investor sells it, the investor can get more money. Bond ETF prices will go up.
This is the risk that when a bond pays back to investors, the investors can't reinvest the money at the same good interest rate. This mainly happens when interest rates fall.
5% bond matures, but now new bonds only pay 2%. An investor is forced to accept a lower return.
This is the risk that bond's interest payments won't keep up with rising prices. Money of and investor is "safe" but it's losing purchasing power.
Bond pays 3%, but inflation is 5%. In real terms, and investor is losing 2% of money's value each year.
Very sensitive to inflation changes.
Less sensitive. They mature quickly, so an investor can soon reinvest money at the new (higher) rates if inflation goes up.
This is the risk that the exchange rate between different currencies, for example, the US Dollar (USD) and the Euro (EUR) moves against an investor.
For example, an investor lives in Europe (earns and spends in euro), but invested in USD.
An investor is not just “betting” on the bond, but also on different currency's value compared to the investor’s own currency.
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