What kinds of bonds are there?

Hello, bonds can generally be divided into interest rate bonds and credit bonds.

(1) interest rate bonds

Interest rate bonds refer to bonds issued directly on the basis of government credit or government debt service support. Due to the endorsement of government credit, the credit risk of interest rate bonds is generally small, and the factors affecting their intrinsic value are mainly market interest rates or the opportunity cost of funds, so they are named "interest rate bonds". In China, narrow interest rate bonds include national debt and local government bonds. Treasury bonds are issued by the Ministry of Finance on behalf of the central government, with the central fiscal revenue as the guarantee for debt repayment. Its main purpose is to solve the capital demand of public facilities or key construction projects invested by the government and make up the national financial deficit. It is characterized by high security, strong liquidity, stable income and tax-free treatment. Local government bonds refer to bonds issued by local governments, with local fiscal revenue as the source of debt service. At present, only provincial governments and cities with separate plans can issue local government bonds. Market institutions generally believe that interest rate bonds in a broad sense include not only government bonds and local government bonds, but also bills issued by the central bank, financial bonds issued by policy banks such as China Development Bank, and bonds issued by government support institutions such as the Railway Corporation.

The credit risk of interest rate bonds is relatively small, but it is not necessarily absolutely immune to credit default, and there may be delays in repayment of principal and interest or even substantial default. For example, during the European debt crisis, Greece and other countries defaulted on their sovereign debts.

(2) Credit bonds

Credit bonds refer to bonds issued on the basis of business credit of enterprises. In addition to interest rate, the issuer's credit is an important factor affecting this kind of bonds, hence the name "credit bonds". Credit bonds in China bond market include bonds issued by non-financial enterprises and bonds issued by commercial financial institutions. There are three main types of credit bonds issued by non-financial enterprises: first, debt financing instruments of non-financial enterprises registered with the Association of Interbank Dealers, including medium-term notes, non-public directional debt financing instruments, short-term financing instruments and ultra-short-term financing instruments. Second, corporate bonds approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, including SME collective bonds, project income bonds and ordinary corporate bonds; Third, corporate bonds approved by the CSRC or filed by securities self-regulatory organizations, including ordinary corporate bonds (including exchangeable corporate bonds) and convertible corporate bonds. Among them, ordinary corporate bonds can be subdivided into corporate bonds that are publicly issued to all investors (commonly known as "public offering"), corporate bonds that are publicly issued to qualified investors (commonly known as "small public offering"), and corporate bonds that are not publicly issued to qualified investors with no more than 200 people (commonly known as "private placement"). Financial credit bonds include bonds issued by commercial banks, insurance companies, securities companies and other financial institutions.