Bond fund refers to a fund that specializes in investing in bonds. By pooling the funds of many investors, it makes portfolio investment in bonds and seeks relatively stable returns. According to the classification standard of China Securities Regulatory Commission, bond funds refer to funds with more than 80% of fund assets invested in bonds.
Because bond funds invest in bonds, the risks of bonds may include interest rate risk and credit risk, so bond funds are also risky. You can refer to the risk level of the fund and check the risks revealed in the fund contract.
The income of pure debt funds is mainly affected by two aspects:
The first is the interest on bonds, which has been fixed at the time of bond issuance;
The second is the price fluctuation of bonds. When the market interest rate (referring to the yield of 10-year treasury bonds) drops, bonds with higher interest rates will be snapped up by investors, leading to an increase in bond prices. The economic environment is relatively poor, and the probability of interest rate cuts and RRR cuts in the future is relatively high. These factors will push up bond prices. Therefore, the choice of pure debt funds mainly depends on the fund manager's grasp of macro trends.
In addition to bonds, some mixed debt bases will also participate in stock market transactions in order to obtain higher returns and higher risks.
The "mixing" of mixed debt base is to match some risky stocks and stock index futures with risk-free interest rate bonds and selected credit bonds. The interest rate of mixed debt base is not only affected by interest itself and bond price fluctuation, but also by the return of stocks and stock index futures, so the return of mixed debt base is higher than that of pure debt in bull market, and the opposite is true in bear market.
To sum up: investors who have low risk appetite but do not meet the income of money funds are suitable for pure debt funds; Investors who want to get higher returns but are unwilling to invest too much money in the stock market can choose a mixed debt base.
It should be noted that it is best to hold bond funds for a long time, and it is recommended that 1 year or more. This is because bond prices are rising slowly. Compared with the increase in the net value of the fund, the subscription and redemption fee will be an expenditure that cannot be underestimated, and it is not appropriate to go in and out frequently.
Finally, talk about how to choose a fund that suits you.
1. Select the bond fund before the income test in the last three years. Income is always the first guarantee, and you put this in the first place.
2. Choose a fund that has been established for more than 5 years, so that you can see more historical achievements as a reference;
3. Choosing a fund size above 10 can reduce the default risk of a single bond and also ensure the long-term stable operation and sufficient liquidity of the fund.
4. Choose a bond fund that hasn't changed its fund manager in the past three years, and changing the fund manager frequently will cause the fund's income to fluctuate greatly.