Three couples, three completely different portfolios

Ryan and Amanda are young retirees that first became interested in investing in bonds when interest rates on deposits declined; lowering income and thus increasing the possibility they would have to dip into capital. Their initial focus was generating higher cashflows than what was available by investing in deposits. They didn’t want to risk having to spend capital for their living expenses. A secondary goal was to invest for growth where they aim to make higher than market average returns

Their current portfolio is weighted towards inflation linked bonds with a 45 per cent allocation, as they see inflation as a major risk to their cashflow. The remaining funds are almost equally split between fixed rate bonds and floating rate bonds. The fixed rate bonds deliver high, known half yearly interest. Ryan has specifically sought floating rate bonds trading under par, or face value of $100, to boost return and as a hedge against interest rates rising. Just before Christmas the couple bought their first indexed annuity bond, the Melbourne Convention Centre bond. Even though the bond returns principal and interest and they don’t need the principal, the near 6 per cent projected return was considered a good opportunity. Ryan and Amanda typify the couples investing in bonds; eager to learn, want to invest on their own behalf and believe they can achieve higher returns than superannuation funds.

David and Sarah have a different view. They like the simplicity of knowing what their income will be and being able to plan ahead. They have 100% of their fixed income portfolio in high yielding fixed rate bonds. They haven’t been able to be persuaded to invest in floating rate or inflation linked bonds and think Australia is in for a period of low interest rates, so don’t see the need to diversify in terms of the types of bonds they hold at this particular time. Jointly, they feel more comfortable with a “hold to maturity” which suits their objectives. This couple were confident and content and as much as I wouldn’t ever advocate allocating all of your funds to one type of bond, their arguments based on their beliefs were sound and being comfortable with whatever you invest in should be true for every investor.

Finally, a growing theme from fixed income investors; Daniel and Annalee who have a big portfolio, have invested specifically with their children in mind. Their children live all around the world and so a key driver is investing in currencies where they reside to have the funds available to them when they travel. Approximately 75 per cent of their portfolio is invested in foreign currency bonds of various currencies in both fixed and floating rates. The funds are already fairly evenly split by currency for the children for ease of transition of the portfolio later on. The Australian dollar investments, which make up approximately 25 per cent of the portfolio, are for their own living expenses and more than half is allocated to inflation linked bonds.

The beauty of buying bonds in the wholesale, over the counter market is that it gives investors control. Investors decide the companies they invest in, the risk they are prepared to take, the return they hope to achieve, the types of bonds, the length of time of the investment and if they want to trade regularly or be “hold to maturity” investors.

Note: Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the investors.