CFA Level 1 (2009) - 5

S[Udy Session 15

eross~Reference to erA Institute Assigned Reading #62 - Overview of Bond Sectors and Instruments

Collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) are customized claims to the principal and/ or interest payments of n'lOrtgage passthrough securities and redistribute the prepayment risk and/or maturity risk of the securities.

LOS 62.1'

CMOs are created to decrease borrowing costs by redistributing prepayment risk or altering the mall/rity structure to better suit investor preferences.

LOS 62.g

Interest payments on state and local government securities (municipal securities, or munis) are usually exempt from U.S. federal taxes, and From state taxes in the state of Issuance.

Municipal bonds include:

Tax-backed (general obligation) bonds backed by the taxing authority of the governmental unit issuing the securities.

•Revenue bonds, backed ollly by lhe revenues from lhe project specilically financed by the bond issue.

LOS 62.h

Corporate debt securities include bonds, medium-term notes, and commercial paper.

Bond rating agencies rate corporate bonds on capacity to repay (liquid assets and cash flow), management quality, industry prospects, corporate stra(('gy, financial policies, credit histoty, overall debt levels, the collateral for the issue, and the nature of the covenants.

Corporate bonds may be secured or unsecured (called debclllures). Security can be in the form of real property, financial assets, or personal property/equipment.

Medium-term notes (MTN) are issued periodically by corporations under a shelf registration, sold by agents on a best-efforts basis, and have maturities ranging from 9 months to over 30 years.

Structured notes combine a bond with a derivative to create a security that fills a need for particular institutional investors.

Commercial paper is a short-term corporate financing vehicle and does not require registration with the SEC if its maturity is less than 270 days. CP comes in two forms:

•Directly-placed paper sold directly by the issuer.

•Dealer-placed paper sold to investors through agents/brokers.

Negotiable CDs are issued in a wide range of maturities by banks, trade in a secondary market, are backed by bank assets, and are termed Eurodollar CDs when denominated in U.S. dollars and issued outside the United States.

Bankers acceptances are issued by banks to guarantee a future payment for goods shipped, sold at a discount to the future payment they promise, short-term, and have limited liquidity.

Srudy Session 15 Cross-Reference to CrA Institute Assigned Reading #62 - Overview of Bond Sectors and Instruments

LOS 62.i

I

Asset-backed securities (ABS) are debt that is supported by the cash Haws from all underlying pool of mortgages, auto loans, credit card receivables, commercial loans, or other financial assets.

A speci:d IJurpose vehicle is an entity to which the assns that back an ABS are legally transferred. If the corporation transFerring these assets goes bankrupt, the assets arc not subject to claims froll1 its creditors. As a result, the ABS can receive a higher credit rating than the corporation and reduce the corporation's funding costs.

External credit enhancement for an ABS can include corporate guaranrees, letters of credit, or third-parry bond insurance.

lOS (}2.j

Colbteralized debt obligations (COOs) are backed by an underlying pool of debt securities which may be anyone of a number of types: corporate bonds, loans, emerging markets debt, ll1ortgage-backed securities, or other CDOs.

I.OS62.k

The primary market in bonds includes underwrirren and best-efforts public offerings, as well as private placements.

'rhe secondary market in bonds includes some trading on exchanges, a much larger volume of trading in a dealer market, and electronic trading networks which arc an increasingly important part of the secondary market for bonds.

Study Session 15

Cross-Reference to CFA Institute Assigned Reading #62 - Overview of Bond Sectors and Instruments

A.$97,170.00.

B.$97.5:)1.25.

C.$100,000.00.

2.An investor holds $100,000 (par value) worth of Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) that carry a 2.5% semiannual pay coupon. If the annual inflation rate is 3%, what is the inflation-adjusted principal value of the bond after six months?

A.$101,500.

B.$102,500.

C.$\ 03,000.

A.$2,000.

B.$2,025.

C.$2,050.

4.A Treasury note (T-note) principal strip has six months remaining to maturity. How is its price likely to compare to a 6-month Treasury bill (T-bill) that has just been issued? The T-note price should be:

A.lower.

B.higher.

C.the same.

5.Which of the following statements about Treasury securities is most accurate?

A.Treasury principal strips are usually created from Treasury bills.

B.Treasury bonds may be used to create Treasury coupon strips.

C.Treasury coupon strips make lower coupon payments than Treasury principal StrIps.

6.Which of the following municipal bonds typically has the greater risk and is issued with higher yields?

A.Revenue bonds.

B.Limited tax general obligation bonds.

C.Unlimited tax general obligation bonds.

Study Sl:ssion 15

Cross-Reference to CFA Institute Assigned Reading #62 - Overview of Bond Sectors and Instruments

I.B This value is computed as follows: dollar pricl: =

97 22 0/0 X $100,000 = 0,9753125x$100,000 = $97531.25.

32

2.A The annual inflation ratl: is 3%, which corrl:sponds lO 1,5% sl:rniannually, Thneforl:, the principal value has increased by 1.5%. So we have: new principal = $100,000 x

1.015 = $101,500.

5.B Treasury coupon and priucipal strips arc created by separating (stripping) the IHincipal and coupons frOll1 Treasury notes and hands and selling packages of these singlematurity cash Ilows as individual zero-coupon securities, Treasury bills cannot bl: used becansl: they are already zero-coupon securities.

prerefunded bonds. Insured bonds carry third-party guarantees. There are no securities formally known as absolute priority hands or credit enhanced obligations (yet).

8.B Shelf registration is used with medium-term notes. This permits the issue to he held in inventory (on the "shelf") and sold in parcels at the discretion of the issuer. Corporate bonds and MBS are usually sold all at once.

9.C Tile assets are sold to a special purpose vehicle to protect them from general claims against the issuing corporation.

10.A On-the-run issues are the most recently issued securities.

1 I. C Investors require a higher yield to compensate for the fact that privately placed debt is not registered for public sale and is therefore less liquid than debt registered for public sale.

12, B Bankers acceptances are short-term and pay no periodic interest. Like negotiable CDs, they are as good as the credit of the issuing bank but have a very limited secondary market.

1.'.1. B A COO or collateralized debt obligation is backed by an underlying pool of debt securities which may be emerging markets debt. A CMO is backed by a pool of mortgages, and an AI3S is backed by financial assets.

14.A Market making refers to a dealer that trades in the secondary market for its own account from inventory.

The following is a review of the Analysis of Fixed Income Investments principles designed to address the learning olllcome statements set forth by eFA lnstitute®. This topic is also covered in:

UNDERSTANDING YIELD SPREADS

Study Session 15

EXAM Focus

lOS (d.a: Iclelltif)' the interest rate policy tools available to a ceotTal bank (e.g., the U.S. Federal Reserve).

While interest rates are determined by a variety of economic conditions, in the United Stares the federal Reserve (Fed) arrempts ro manage shorr-term rates through its monetary poliiJI tools. The four interest rate tools of the Fed are as follows:

1.The discount rate is the rate at which banks can borrow reserves from the Fed. A lower rate tends to increase bank reserves, encourage lending, and decrease interest rates. A higher discount rate has the opposite effect, raising rates.

2. Open market operations refers ro the buying or selling of Treasury securities by the Fed in the open market. When the Fed buys securities, cash replaces securities in investor accounts, more funds are available for lending, and interest rates decrease. Sales of securities by the Fed have the opposite effect, reducing cash balances and funds available for lending as well as increasing rates.

3.Bank reserve requirements are the percentage of deposits that banks must retain

(not loan out). By increasing the percentage of deposits banks are required to retain as rcscr/Jes, the Fed effectively decreases the funds that are available for lending. This decrease in amounts available for lending will tend to increase interest rates. A decrease in the percentage reserve requirement will increase the funds available for loans and tends to decrease interest rates.

4.Persuading banks to tighten or loosen their credit policies. By asking banks [0 alter their lending policies, the Fed arrempts to affect their willingness to lend. Encouraging lending will tend ro decrease rates and vice versa.

The most commonly L1sed policy rool is open markct operations.

Study Session 15

Cross-Reference to CFA Institute Assigned Reading #63 - Understanding Yield Spreads

LOS 6.i.h: Describe a yield curve and the various shapes of the yield curve.

We have mentioned yield curves previously as just a plot of yields by years to matmilY. For a view of a current Treasury yield curve and related information. you can look at www.bloomberg.com/markets/rares/index.html. The Treasury yield curve shows the yields for U.S. Treasmy securities (bills. notes, and bonds) with maturities from three months to 30 years.

There are four general shapes that we usc to describe yield curves:

1.Normal or upward sloping.

2.Inverted or downward sloping.

3.Flat.

4.Humped.

These four shapes arc ill usrrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Yield Curve Shapes

Yi,lcl

.-..-----.--------------- Flat

Yield curves can take on just about any shape, so don't think these examples are the only ones observed. These four are representative of general types, and you need to be familiar with what is meant by an "upward sloping" or "normal" yield curve and by an

Study Session 15

Cross-Reference to CFA Institute Assigned Reading #63 - Understanding Yield Spreads

theory is that there are legal or institutional policy restrictions that prevent investors From purchasing securities with maturities olltside a particular matltrity range. The determination ol~ yields For various maturity ranges of the yield curve is illustrated in Figure .).

Figure 3: Market Segmentation Theory and the Yield Curve

Yield

Long-renn

1nrermedi'lfe-rerm

Shorr-term

o

S

D S D

Malurity

A somewhat weaker version of the market segmentation theory is the preferred habitat duo I)'. Under this theory, yields also depend on supply and demand for various maturity ranges, but investors can be induced to move from their preferred maturity ranges when yields are sufficien tly higher in other (non-preferred) maturity ranges.

Term Structure Theories and the Shape of the Yield Curve

The pure expectations theory by itself has no implications for the shape of the yield curve. The various expectations and the shapes that are consistent with them are:

Short-term rates expected to rise in the furure---.; upward sloping yield curve

Short-term rates are expected fall in the future ~ downward sloping yield curve

Short-term rates expected to rise then Fall --7 humped yield curve

Short-term rates expected to remain constant ---> flat yield curve

The shape of the yield curve, under the pure expectations theory, provides us with information about investor expectations about future short-term rates.

Under the liquidity preference theory, the yield curve may take on any of the shapes we have identified. If rates are expected to fall a great deal in the future, even adding a liquidity premium to the resulting negatively sloped yield curve can result in a

downward sloping yield curve. A humped yield curve could still be humped even with a liquidity premium added to all the yields. Also note that, under the liquidity preference theory, an upward sloping yield curve can be consistent with expectations of declining short term rates in the future. This case is illustrated in Figure 4.

Srudy Sessioll ] 5

Cross-Reference to CFA Institute Assigned Reading #63 - Understanding Yield Spreads

rigure 4: Liquidity Premium Added to Decreasing Expected Rates

J.i<]uidity Preferellce Yield Curve

~"d"YP",n',",

Pure Expectations Yield Curve

(short-It'fIll rates expected [0 decline)

-------------- M;lllll'il\'

The market segmentation theory of the term SHliClure is consistent with any yield curvc shape. Under this theory, it is supply and demand Cor debt securities at each malUrilY nnge that derennines the yield for that maturity range. There is no specific linkage among the yields at different maturities, although, under the preferred habitat theory, higher rates at an adjacent maturity range can induce investors to purchase bonds with malurities outside their preferred range of maturities.

LOS 63.d: Deline aspoL raLl'.

Yield to maturity is the single discount rate that makes the present value of a bond's promised cash flows equal to its market price. Actually, the appropriate discount rates for cash flows that come at different points in time are typically not all the same. The discount rate for a payment that comes one year from now is not necessarily the same discount rate that should be applied to a payment that comes five or ten years from now. That is, the spot-rate yield curve is notflat (horizontal).

The appropriate discount rates for individual future paymenrs arc called spot rates.

The spot rates for different time periods that correctly value (produce a value equal to

market price) the cash flows from a Treasury bond are called arbitrage-free Treasury spot rates, or the theoretical Treasury spot-rate curve. We will examine the methodology for estimati ng these rates and why they arc called "arbitrage-free" spot rates a bi t later. Here we just introduce the idea of spot rates to differentiate them from coupon bond yields (YTMs). Conceptually, spot rates are the discoun t rates for (yields on) zero-coupon bonds, securities that have only a single cash flow at a future date. A simple example (with annual rather than semiannual payments) will illustrate this concept as applied to coupon bonds.

Consider an ann ual-pay bond with a 10% coupon rate and three years to maturity. This bond will make three payments. For a $1,000 bond these payments will be $100 in one