Direct investing in G-secs to be easier now. Should you opt in?
If RBI is able to address the issue of liquidity and ease of investing through the new platform, we can have a vibrant market for all stakeholders.
If RBI is able to address the issue of liquidity and ease of investing through the new platform, we can have a vibrant market for all stakeholders.
Retail investors looking for high yield on their fixed income investments typically find investments in government bonds unattractive.
Understanding of GILTS, conversion from SGL to demat and vice versa is cumbersome, liquidity for retail lot (anything less than 5 crore is odd lot) and low yield or return compared to other AAA-rated or PSU or private sector NCD are some of the issues.
Government-owned Power Finance Corporation is set to launch its public bond sale for retail investors on Friday offering up to 7.5%. The issue seeks to garner Rs 5,000 crore.This is the first such issuance since the State Bank of India had floated a public offer about a decade ago. About fourth-fifth of the issuance is earmarked for retail and wealthy individual investors. Subscriptions close January 29.
Wealthy individuals are buying long-term government bonds with 15-to-30 year maturities as they offer returns nearly double of the available short-term securities, including Treasury Bills and other money market instruments.
The risk is relatively low. However, the bonds don’t have any explicit guarantee. There is an implicit guarantee as it is assumed that the state government will repay in case the municipal corporation faces any cash flow issues.
Earlier, the gap between G-Secs and SDLs or the premium on SDLs in relation to that of G-Secs, used to hover around 70 to 80 basis points, but this has fallen to 40 to 50 basis points after RBI entered the market with OMO.
Broadly, if you invest a lump-sum now, you get regular payouts – be it monthly, quarterly or annually. The returns work out to 5.75-5.9 percent annually over 20-30 years.
Investors should check for YTM, which is nothing but return on investment. This should not be confused with current yield of the bond.
We have been receiving a lot of queries from investors seeking information on REIT investments. If you have surplus money, you can invest about 5-8 percent in those listed units earning higher than the average returns in debt investments.