Did you know: A bond’s coupon is not the same as yield
A bond's yield and price are inversely related
Sometimes the terms ‘coupon’ and ‘yield’ are used interchangeably while referring to the payout from a bond. However, the two shouldn’t be mixed up. A coupon is the annual interest payment offered by a bond issuer. Yield, on the other hand, is the payout which is considered with reference to the market price of a listed bond.
Coupon and effective yield
For example, if a bond has a coupon of 8% per annum, it means that the annual interest is 8% of the invested amount. This can be paid out monthly, quarterly, annually or cumulatively at the end of the bond tenure. Yield is what a bond earns, expressed as a percentage of its value.
If the interest is paid out annually, then the effective yield on an annual basis is the same as the coupon rate. If the coupon amount is paid out at monthly intervals, that will increase the effective yield in the above example to, say, 8.35%.
This happens because you get money every month and it is assumed that you will be able to reinvest that money at the rate of 8% per annum, thereafter.
So, don’t get cheated into thinking that the real return is higher when bond issues advertise yields instead of coupon. Similarly, if you invest Rs1,000 in a bond that offers to double your money in 6 years and pay Rs2,000 at the end of that period, then you don’t have a coupon. Rather, you get accumulated interest at the end of the tenure and the effective yield of your earnings is 12.25% per annum.
Market yield
This is different from the coupon. Once a bond is listed on an exchange, it carries a market price, which is determined by demand and supply. The market yield of a bond is the coupon divided by the market price of the bond and multiplying with the face value. So if a bond with a face value of Rs1,000 and 8% coupon is currently trading at Rs1,020, then the current yield is 7.84%.
Bond yield and prices are inversely proportional. A bond is said to be trading at a discount when bond market price is less than the face value and yield is higher than the coupon rate. Bond traders may buy at a premium or discount based on their view of demand or supply and interest rate movements.
Long-term investors who want to buy and hold a bond till maturity, need only be concerned with the coupon on offer and not the yield.
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