Bond funds are not products with guaranteed capital and guaranteed income, and they may make profits or lose money.

Bond funds mainly invest in bonds, and the fund income is determined by the bonds invested. When the bonds invested go up, the fund goes up, and when the bonds invested go down, the fund goes down.

The income of bonds mainly includes the interest income of bonds and the spread income of bond transactions. Because the income of bonds is relatively stable, the income of bond funds is also relatively stable.

Bond/debenture is a kind of financial contract, which is a debt certificate issued to investors when the government, financial institutions and industrial and commercial enterprises directly borrow money from the society and promise to pay interest at a certain interest rate and repay the principal according to the agreed terms. The essence of a bond is a certificate of debt, which has legal effect. There is a creditor-debtor relationship between bond buyers or investors and issuers. Bond issuers are debtors and investors (bond buyers) are creditors.

Bond is a valuable security. Because the interest of bonds is usually determined in advance, bonds are a kind of fixed-interest securities. In countries and regions with developed financial markets, bonds can be listed and circulated.

basic elements

Although there are many kinds of bonds, they all contain some basic elements in content. These elements refer to the basic contents that must be stated in the bonds issued, and are the main agreements that clarify the rights and obligations of creditors and debtors, including:

1. Bond face value

The face value of bonds refers to the face value of bonds, which is the principal amount that the issuer should repay to the bondholders after the maturity of bonds, and is also the calculation basis for enterprises to pay interest to bondholders on schedule. The face value of bonds is not necessarily the same as the actual issue price of bonds. If the issue price is greater than the face value, it is called premium issue; If it is lower than the face value, it is called discount; And if it is equivalent, it is called parity issue.

2. Repayment period

Bond repayment period refers to the time limit for repaying the principal of the bond stipulated by the corporate bond, that is, the time interval between the bond issuance date and the maturity date. The company should determine the repayment period of corporate bonds in combination with its own capital turnover and various factors affecting the external capital market.

3. Interest payment period

Bond interest payment period refers to the time when an enterprise pays interest after issuing bonds. It can be paid at one time, or 1 year, half a year or three months. Considering the time value of money and inflation, the interest payment period has a great influence on the actual income of bond investors. The interest of a bond that pays interest once at maturity is usually calculated at simple interest; For bonds that pay interest in installments during the year, interest shall be calculated according to compound interest.

4. coupon rate

The coupon rate of bonds refers to the ratio of bond interest to the face value of bonds, which is the calculation standard of the remuneration that the issuer promises to pay to bondholders in a certain period of time. The determination of bond coupon rate is mainly influenced by the bank interest rate, the issuer's credit status, the repayment period and interest calculation method, and the capital supply and demand in the capital market at that time.

5. Name of issuer

The name of the issuer indicates the debt subject of the bond, which provides the basis for the creditor to recover the principal and interest at maturity.

The above elements are the basic elements of the face value of bonds, but not all of them are printed on the face value when they are issued. For example, in many cases, bond issuers announce the term and interest rate of bonds to the public in the form of announcements or regulations.