Posts belonging to Category High Yield (Junk) Bonds



Church Bonds Have Claimed Many Victims

 

In recent years, church bonds have been hazardous for investors. Many of these investor losses can be attributed to the fact that church bonds were routinely sold by promoters and investment advisers as safe investments. These representations were simply untrue.

Be Careful Investing in High-Yield (Junk) Municipal Bonds

 

High-yield (junk) municipal bonds have attracted about $5.3 billion of investors’ money so far this year, but some experts think that their party is about to end. The reason for the robust growth is that the yield of junk municipal bonds is approximately 5.2 percent compared with investment grade munis that are yielding 2 percent. […]

Alternative Investments Are No Investment Panacea

 

Financial advisers need to know that dangers lurk in the complex world of alternative investments and they must disclose these dangers to their clients. At present, many investment advisers are under pressure to sell alternative investments and are doing so in greater numbers than ever before. Alternative investments can include virtually any investment that is […]

Regulators Warn Investors About Floating Rate Bond Funds

 

Investors in search of higher yields are increasingly being steered into funds that buy floating rate bank loans. They are pitched as paying 5% with little if any interest rate risk. However, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) warns that these loans come with significant risks, including potential credit, valuation and liquidity problems.

OppenheimerFunds Penalized More Than $35 Million for Misrepresenting Bond Funds

 

OppenheimerFunds has agreed to pay more than $35 million to settle SEC charges the investment management company and its sales and distribution arm made misleading statements about two of its mutual funds in the midst of the credit crisis in late 2008. The settlement payments consist of a penalty of $24 million, disgorgement of $9,879,706, […]

The Risks of High Yielding Junk Bonds Continue to Increase

 

Money is rapidly flowing out of high yield bond funds, which are composed of bonds rated below BBB by Standard & Poors and below Baa by Moody’s. With Europe looking shakier, investors have sought the safety of U.S. Treasuries. After a four-month buying surge beginning in January, more than $3 billion left high-yield bond funds […]

Turmoil Ahead for ‘Junk Bonds’ as Liquidity Dries Up

 

The percentage of mutual fund money invested in junk bonds (a/k/a high yield bonds) rose to its highest point in a decade as of February 29 of this year, and junk bonds have outperformed all major asset classes over the past three years. But junk bond funds are now under selling pressure. Investors have been […]

Regulators Eye the Role of Investment Wholesalers in Providing Misleading Disclosures to Investors

 

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is showing stepped-up interest in the role of broker-dealers and individuals that act as wholesalers in the sale of private (Reg D) offerings that clients and often brokers do not fully understand. (See InvestmentNews article by Bruce Kelly entitled “Finra eyes wholesalers’ role in vending.”

Dangers Lurk for High Yield Junk Bonds

 

Junk bonds have benefitted both investors and issuers over the past few years, providing borrowers with some of the lowest interest rates ever, while providing yield-hungry investors with better returns than they could receive by investing in investment grade debt. Junk bonds produce higher yields because of the increased risk of default by the issuer. […]

Chasing Higher Yields Involves Taking Greater Risk

 

The prospect of several more years of extremely low interest rates is causing people who depend on interest income to accept Wall Street’s recommendations to purchase relatively illiquid and opaque alternative investments like structured products, non-traded REITs, hedge funds and variable annuities. (“Itchy Investors Ramp Up the Risk,” Wall Street Journal). Regulators worry that the […]