| Corporate Bonds | Stocks | |
|---|---|---|
 Less downside |
||
 Greater certainty of recurring income |
||
 Greater protection of principal |
||
 More investment choice
than the stock market |
Less downside
Individual Corporate Bonds vs. Stocks
A key advantage of individual corporate bonds vs. stocks is that they can achieve strong returns and limit your downside. Most corporate
bonds trade in a range between 75.00 and 125.00; however, they can trade outside of this range based on changes in the underlying credit quality of the bond, overall market
conditions, and, for bonds rated investment grade,
changes in Treasury yields.
All corporate bonds are quoted as a percentage of their face value, which is $1,000. A bond quoted at 95.00 is
worth 95% of the $1,000 face value of the bond, or $950. Per the company's agreement with bondholders, the issuing
company must pay the bondholder the face value of the bond on the maturity date.
The terms 'face value' and 'par value' are used interchangeably, so a bond quoted at 100.00, is deemed to be trading
at par. Corporate bonds trading below par are said to be trading at a discount, while bonds trading above par
are said to be trading at a premium. Our strategy is to purchase bonds priced at a discount relative to the issuing company's financial strength, and, over time, achieve
capital appreciation that generates a strong total return for our recommended corporate bonds. We almost always sell bonds prior to maturity to maximize the total return
of our investment.
Being able to quantify your downside is an important tool for individual bond investors. A key reason why there is
less downside to bonds vs. stocks is that a bond is a contract between the issuing company and the bondholder. The
company must pay interest on the bonds on specific dates, and it must return your principal at the bond's maturity
date. Both of these factors stabilize the value of corporate bonds. Stocks don't provide the same level of commitment
to shareholders, as a company can suspend dividend payments, and investors have limited recourse other than selling
the stock. We saw this during the COVID-19 crisis, as some of the largest companies in the world, including Disney,
Royal Dutch Shell, Boeing, and Ford either suspended or reduced their stock dividends.
Greater certainty of recurring income
Bond issuers have contractual obligations to bondholders that are much more stringent than obligations to shareholders.
This starts with the bond issuer's obligation to pay interest on time, typically on a semi-annual basis. If a
company stops paying its interest to bondholders, the issuer could be deemed to have caused an 'event of default,'
which could enable bondholders to take certain actions to obtain their interest payments and/or a return of their principal.
Stocks do not have these same obligations, and companies can, at the drop of a hat, suspend dividend payments to stockholders.
Many retirement investors need to know that recurring interest or dividend payments will continue to be paid, which
is why corporate bonds can be a more compelling investment opportunity for retirement investors seeking a reliable
income stream. It wasn't too long ago that General Electric had a AAA credit rating and was one of the world's
most valuable companies. Today, it is a shell of its former self and, in October 2018, GE cut its quarterly dividend
to $0.01 per share. If this can occur at one of the world's most valuable companies, no stockholder is immune
from dividend cuts or eliminations.
Greater protection of principal
When investors buy stock of a company, there is no guarantee that the company will repay the investor anything. The stock
could go up and it could go down depending on the company's performance and market conditions.
As noted above, the face value of a corporate bond is $1,000. When a bond matures, the issuing company owes the
bondholder the face value of the bond he purchased. This provides corporate bond investors with a much higher level
of principal security relative to stockholders.
In addition, bondholders are more senior in a company's capital structure than stockholders. In the event of
a bankruptcy, stockholders typically get wiped out where bondholders can recover a portion of their principal depending
on the value of the company and what other debt obligations it has.
Being senior in a company's capital structure and having a contractual obligation to receive the bond's face value
at maturity provides corporate bondholders a greater level of principal protection than that of stockholders.
More investment choice than the stock market
On any given day, people can invest in nearly 9,000 individual corporate bonds, approximately double the number of publicly
traded stocks. This enables investors to build portfolios that are well suited to their investment objectives
and risk profiles. For example, a more aggressive investor could favor high-yield bonds and longer-dated investment
grade bonds. More conservative investors may stick to bonds of higher credit quality and, to reduce pricing volatility,
limit the time to maturity of investment-grade bonds. We like to say "there's a corporate bond for everyone."
We expect this enhanced level of investment choice in bonds vs. stocks to continue, as corporate bond issuance has
remained strong and the number of companies going public through initial public offerings (IPOs) has waned, falling
67% from 1999 to 2017. The number of publicly traded stocks recently hit a 35-year low, having decreased 45% from 1996
to 2015.
While 2018 corporate bond issuance fell to $1.3 trillion vs. $1.6 trillion in 2017, the previous-record 2017 issuance
levels were a 3.5x increase from 1997. In Q4 2018, companies sold over six times more in bonds vs. stocks. At the end
of 2018, there was approximately $9.2 trillion of corporate bonds outstanding, which is 2.4x the size of the municipal
bond market and nearly 60% the size of the United States Treasury market.
In the wake of COVID-19, many companies needed to borrow heavily to finance losses as a result of many industries being
shut down or significantly restricted. As shown in Figure 1, monthly corporate bond issuance surged to record
levels in April and May 2020. Monthly investment-grade corporate bond issuance exceeded $250 billion in both
April and May 2020. Across these two months alone, companies issued over $500 billion in corporate bonds, which
was over 40% of all 2018 investment-grade corporate bond issuance.
While many companies have work to do to support their new levels of indebtedness, the significant issuance shows a
robust market that can serve investors across varying investment objectives and risk profiles.
Figure 1: Annual and Monthly Corporate Bond Issuance Volumes*
* Source: SIFMA bond issuance data