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What isn't a Bond?
Several products get called bonds ... but they're not
 

Fixed term deposits sold by banks are not bonds

So called "mini-bonds" are not bonds either!

If it's not listed and if you can't trade it then it's not a bond

Banks like to call their fixed-term deposit accounts, bonds.  But they're not. They're deposit accounts!  You can't trade them and you're locked-in.

 

Banks rather unhelpfully call these deposit accounts bonds - which confuses some investors. 

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Locking money away in a bank is not an investment, it's a deposit of cash - hence the protection given and why returns are low compared to the investment market.

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Mini-bonds, despite the name are not bonds either.  You can't trade them and as investors found out the hard way, you're locked-in with no exit via a secondary market.

 

Mini bonds are actually loans between the individual investor and the borrower.

 

They are not bonds. 

They are not listed.

And you can't trade them. 

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© 2023 by Winterflood Fixed Income

Interest rate risk

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Changes to interest rates will impact the price of your bond in the secondary market regardless of how the issuer performs.  

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As interest rates rise, bond prices fall. And as interest rates fall, bond prices increase.

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If you need or want to sell your bonds before maturity, you may find the price has been impacted by interest rate changes.

 

But remember, if you intend to hold the bond to maturity, the price in the secondary market is irrelevant. The secondary price is only relevant when you are buying or selling.

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