Читать книгу The Sterling Bonds and Fixed Income Handbook - Mark Glowrey - Страница 6

Preface

Who this book is for

This book is intended to fill a gap in the plethora of investment guides available for self-directed investors in the UK. Any number of books covering equities, leveraged trading, funds, ETFs and even alternative investments such as collectables are available, but to date the coverage of the gilt and corporate bond market has been slim. Of course, there are numerous works intended for investment professionals in this field, but these are highly specialised publications which typically focus on one aspect of the fixed income market, for instance credit derivatives or portfolio immunization – subjects that are likely to be of little practical use to an investor who wishes to build a small to medium size portfolio in the gilt and fixed income markets.

The professional investor also typically has distinct mandates to follow. These will usually be to achieve superior performance to his peers or an index, or to match future liabilities. Such investors will manage their portfolios accordingly. The private investor will typically have more straightforward criteria; to get a good return on his capital whilst avoiding unacceptable levels of risk. expense or complexity. This absolute return approach will frequently mean that the private investor’s selection of individual bonds, and the resulting portfolio may look quite different from that of the private investor.

The book aims to be a practical guide for UK investors and their advisors, enabling those with perhaps £10,000 and up, or a few £100,000s to put their money profitably to work in this rewarding and often overlooked asset class. The book is intended to be first and foremost a practical guide and covers both bond theory and the more mundane but important subjects of dealing, settlement and day-to-day portfolio operation.

I hope that Sterling Bonds and Fixed Income for the Private Investor will find a ready home on the bookshelves of investors, private-client stockbrokers, wealth managers, trustees and even a few fund managers. Company treasurers and investment bankers, particularly those employed in origination and new issues, may also find it a useful read, if only to remind them that there is demand from the man on the street, and how best that demand might be met.

What this book covers

This book covers the theory and the practicalities of investing in the UK government bond (gilt) and sterling corporate bond markets.

Virtually all categories of debt within this subset are dealt with over the following chapters: straight or vanilla bonds (the most common type) through to convertible, floating rate notes and index-linked issues. Both domestic and Eurosterling corporate bonds are covered – investment-grade and sub-investment grade alike. There is also coverage of the subordinated sector including permanent interest bearing shares (PIBS) and enhanced capital notes (ECNs), an asset class that already has a strong following amongst the UK private investor community.

Whilst the book is primarily intended for those investors who wish to put their money directly to work in the bond market, chapter 14 also covers bond funds and ETFs (exchange traded funds), comparing these popular investment vehicles with the do-it-yourself approach.

It is also worth considering what this book does not cover. As the title suggests, the book is intended as guide for UK investors, who will typically have sterling savings to put to work. Whilst chapter 12 deals with overseas and foreign currency bonds, this section will serve primarily to contextualize the more in-depth study of sterling bonds. The subject of overseas bonds is too great to be fully covered in one handy-sized volume. In particular, it would not be possible to cover the huge US domestic market and its subsets of tax-deductible, municipal and mortgage-backed debt.

Note: the book is illustrated with numerous examples of bonds trading the markets over the 2010-2011 period. Prices and interest rates will reflect those in force at that time.