Good bonds options?

Never invested in bonds but looking to park money somewhere for a little bit.
Are there good options on the platform?

If you type ‘bond’ in the search bar of the Discover tab, it should bring up all the bond investments available on the app.

DYOR to see which ones are ‘good’ ones for you, as this will depend per individual.

I appreciate your politically correct response but FT doesn’t have the easiest way to explore and compare bonds so I’d appreciate some selection that I could start with as a matter of personal opinion.

Lol, here’s my politically incorrect answer then:

I hold VGOV, IGLH and INXG. As far as bonds go, these are the ones I think are ‘good’ but what’s good for me might not be good for you :laughing:

However, I got a bit spooked by the negative yield of bonds and how volatile they were over the last year so have switched some of the holdings to defensive investments like Ruffer.

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Many thanks, I understand the DYOR caveat but I find people’s politically incorrect answers by far the most helpful :grinning:

IGLH looks cheap and is at the bottom of the curve so will definitely check that one out. I always like a good iShares product too.

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Great minds! I also hold RICA as a defensive play. It’s nice to have at least one holding in my portfolio that aims to preserve wealth first and grow it second.

To the opening poster’s question, DYOR but the simplest solution is probably to buy a global aggregate bond ETF such as AGBP or SAGG depending on whether you want currency hedging.

I’ll buy more bonds as my time horizon shortens, but I think I’d rather buy them directly – rather than through an ETF – and set up a bond ladder.

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IGLH - I am a bit confused. How much does this yield? 1%?

I mean, Chase has close 3% on saving account, surely bonds would be higher than that, wouldnt they?

I believe you can’t invest in individual bonds on freetrade?

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You can’t no, but you can buy them through some other brokers, banks and the Debt Management Office. It would be great if FT started offering individual bonds too.

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None, they’re awful.

You have to spend a premium to get a return on them and the value is consistently declining.

I’d just buy stocks instead, they at least, go up once in a while(!)

As said I don’t believe there are individual Gilts or corporate bonds listed on Freetrade. The preferred shares and bonds I own (albeit a tiny percentage of my portfolio) are through Hargreaves Lansdown.

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I believe that this is because the market expects much higher return bonds to be issued, de-valuing the ones currently available (hence the mini-budget crises). If FT were on-the-ball with customer service, they might get prepared to offer individual bonds before they are available, so that we can benefit from the higher returns offered to retail investors as soon as they land.

The change in value as a bond approaches maturity will to a certain degree just be the natural pull to par.

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High-yield trusts such as NCYF and BIPS could be another option. The charges are high and they’re at a premium, but they offer a 6-8% yield and a decent record in terms of long-term capital return.

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International personal finance 12% 2027.
Bought as the company is doing well hence they have the ability to pay. Bought via primary bid and Hargreaves Lansdowne. The primary bid ones went into Hargreaves Lansdowne account. No fees at IPO.

Bonds always pull to par. If the redemption price is £100 and they have 10 years to redemption and if interest go up 1% then the value goes down. How far down it goes is directly related to how long they have to run.
So 10 years to redemption 5% interest may fall to £90
1 year to redemption might fall £1. Because next year you get £100.
If it fell £10 the return for 1 year would be 15%

As an aside if you get your timing right alot of money to be made if interest rate fall.

Note international personal finance is only a 5 year bond

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