interpreting modifiable bonds
Saturday, January 29th, 2011In the area of fixed income investments, debentures and bonds feature prominently because of the returns they can provide. Between these two, debentures are more lucrative due to the higher risk profile. Of course, before you put your money in these kinds of investment products, you should arm yourself with enough knowledge so that you can assess if these can really help you in your financial plan. Also, you’d be able to choose the better alternative among the varieties available if have a good idea about them.
Fixed interest investments are for those who want to get regular fixed payments. In exchange for the consistent payments, they sacrifice capital growth potentials. Fixed interest instruments are bonds, debentures, and certificates of deposits. The return is higher if you invest in the tool for a long period of time. The longer the time horizon, the greater the interest rate you will receive.
Debentures are a common kind of fixed interest investment in corporate finance. This is a way for companies to borrow some money from people who are interested and in turn, they return a good amount of interest.
With debentures, the company is able to get money through investments and the people who invest can get monetary profit in terms of interest. Like any other fixed interest investment, a debenture is also a fixed long term loan amount with an upfront interest rate so you are going to be giving that fund for that specified time period.
Debentures are classified as an unsecured form of bonds. Most bonds are secured because they have collateral or an asset attached to them so investors are assured that their capital is secured. Debentures are a different story. They are unsecured because there are no collaterals or assets backing them. Since it’s high risk, only those who have a high appetite for risk invest in debentures.
The investor will get the interest payments in regular intervals. On maturity date, they will get the principal amount of the loan. So whatever they have invested at the start, they should get back that amount when the debenture matures. Companies that usually issue debentures are finance companies. They then loan the funds to those who cant get normal loans from banks due to poor credit standing.
As mentioned earlier, because of the lack of collateral, the risks are high. The returns, in turn, are higher because of that. The debenture is easily transferrable to other individuals. Investors can also negotiate their debenture rights with the company. Investors in debentures, however, are mostly passive investors. They just want regular income from the debentures.
Debentures are classified into two types: Convertible and Non-Convertible. Convertible debentures are those that can be transformed into equity shares of the company. The benefit is that you can enjoy the possible capital gains from the shares. As a result of this feature, convertible debentures typically have a lower interest rate. Debentures that are non-convertible have a higher interest rate and can’t be exchanged for shares of the company.
The essayist who wrote this column has came across a corporate finance expert by the name of Josh Yudell. I believe Josh Yudell to be widely considered an expert in the fields of investor relations, SEC compliance, corporate finance and capital structure.
