The bond market is forparticipants that are involved inthe issuance and trading ofdebt securities. It primarily includes government-issuedand corporate debt securities, and can essentially be broken down into three main groups: issuers, underwriters, and purchasers.
Key Takeaways
- The bond market is a financial marketplace where investors can buy debt securities that are either issued by governments or corporations.
- Issuers sell bonds or other debt instruments to raise money; most bond issuers are governments, banks, or corporate entities.
- Underwriters are investment banks and other firms that help issuers sell bonds.
- Bond purchasers are the corporations, governments, and individuals buying the debt that is being issued.
BondIssuers
The issuers sell bonds or other debt instruments in the bond market to fund the operations of their organizations. This area of the market is mostly made up of governments, banks, and corporations.
The biggest of these issuers is the government, which uses the bond market to fund a country's operations, such as social programs and other necessary expenses. The U.S. government segment also includes some of its agencies, such as Fannie Mae, which offers mortgage-backed securities.
Municipal bonds—commonly abbreviated as"muni" bonds—are locally issued by states, cities, special-purpose districts, public utility districts, school districts, publicly-owned airports and seaports, and other government-owned entities that seek to raise cash to fund various projects. Municipal bonds are commonly tax-free at the federal level and can also be tax-exempt at state or local tax levels too, making them attractive to qualified tax-conscious investors.
Companies issue corporate bonds to raise money for a sundry of reasons, such as financing current operations, expanding product lines, or opening up new manufacturing facilities. Corporate bonds usually describe longer-termdebt instrumentsthat provide a maturity of at least one year. Corporate bonds are typically classified as eitherinvestment-gradeor elsehigh-yield(or "junk").
This categorization is based on the credit rating assigned to the bond and its issuer. An investment grade is a rating that signifies a high-quality bond that presents a relatively low risk ofdefault.Bond-ratingfirms likeandMoody'suse different designations, consisting of the upper- and lower-case letters "A" and "B," to identify a bond's credit quality rating.
Banks are also key issuers in the bond market and they can range from local banks up to supranational banks such as the European Investment Bank, which issues debt in the bond market.
There are four major types of bond classifications: corporate bonds, government bonds, municipal bonds, and mortgage-backed bonds.
Bond Underwriters
The underwriting segment of the bond market is traditionally made up of investment banks and other financial institutions that help the issuer to sell the bonds in the market. In general, selling debt is not as easy as just taking it to the market. In most cases, millions (if not billions)of dollars are being transacted in one offering. As a result, a lot of work needs to be done—such as creating a prospectus and other legal documents—in order to sell the issue.
In general, the need for underwriters is greatest for the corporate debt market because there are more risks associated with this type of debt.
$55,137 billion
The approximate size of the U.S. bond as of 2022—the most recent data available, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA).
Bond Purchasers
The final players in the market are those who buy the debt that is being issued in the market. They basically include every group mentioned as well as any other type of investor, including the individual. Bondholders essentially become creditors, or lenders, to the issuer. If you buy a U.S. Treasury, the federal government owes you money. If you buy a corporate bond, the company that issued it owes you money. Bonds are widely considered to be a core part of a well-diversified portfolio.
Governments play one of the largest roles in the bond market because they borrow and lend money to other governments and banks. Furthermore, governments often purchase debt from other countries if they have excess reserves of that country's money as a result of trade between countries. For example, China and Japan are major holders of U.S. government debt.
What Is the Bond Market?
The bond market, also called the debt market, credit market, or fixed-income market, is the place where debt securities are issued (by governments and publicly traded companies) and traded.
Who Issues Debt Securities?
Governments and corporations are the most common issuers of debt securities in order to raise money. Governments issue them to finance projects and infrastructural improvements, to pay for day-to-day operations, and to pay other debt. Corporations issue debt securities for the same reasons (in short, to fund growth).
How Risky Is the Bond Market?
Bonds are typically less volatile than stocks since they pay regular interest and return principal upon maturity. However, bond prices can fluctuate and go down as they are sensitive to interest rate changes. If interest rates rise, the price of a highly-rated bond will decrease. A bond can also lose value if its issuer defaults on its debt or goes bankrupt, and it's unable to pay back the initial investment and the interest owed.
The Bottom Line
The bond market includes debt securities issued by governments, corporations, and other entities in order to raise money for various financial needs.
The three main parties involved in the bond market are the issuers (governments, corporations, and entities selling bonds or other debt instruments to fund the operations), underwriters (investment banks and other financial institutions that help the issuer sell the bonds), and purchasers (any type of investor purchasing debt securities to diversify their portfolios and get returns).
Correction-Oct. 18, 2023: This article was corrected from a previous version that misstated the approximate size of the U.S. bond market as of 2022.
