Morgan Stanley
  • Investment Management
  • Dec 20, 2016

Do High Yield Bonds Still Make Sense?

It’s high yield and not high quality that tends to perform better in the bond markets as rates start to rise, says Morgan Stanley's Richard Lindquist.

There are times when it might not pay to play it safe in the bond market, and one of those times is now, according to Richard Lindquist, a senior high yield bond fund manager at Morgan Stanley Investment Management.

When the Federal Reserve hikes rates, it’s the lower-quality bonds that tend to be the better performing fixed income assets, he argues, and that’s already evident. Since Donald Trump was elected in early November, U.S. Treasury bonds have suffered a dramatic sell-off, in anticipation that his fiscal spending plans will prompt more Fed rate hikes next year.

Between November 8 and December 13, U.S. Treasuries in aggregate have returned -3.02%, and investment-grade bonds have returned -2.66%. High-yield bonds, meanwhile, have returned 1.52%. And within the high-yield market, it’s the bonds on the lowest rung of the rating ladder – the Single B and Triple C names – that have performed the best.1

Yield and Duration Across Various Bond Markets

*Yield to Worst – is the lowest yield an investor can expect when investing in a callable bond. A callable bond is one which gives the issuer the option to redeem the bond at a set date before maturity.

Source: Bloomberg Barclays Capital and JP Morgan
Past performance is not indicative of future results. The indices are provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to predict or represent the performance of any Morgan Stanley investment or strategy. In general, fixed income investments are subject to credit and interest rate risks. High yield investments may have a higher degree of credit and liquidity risk. Foreign securities are subject to currency, political, economic and market risks. For more information , please refer to the disclosures at the bottom.

“If you are going to be in fixed income, then I believe the high-yield market will be one of the better places to be, and within that, the lower-rated credits,” argues Lindquist. U.S.  high-yield bonds feel the impact of rising rates like other higher-quality bonds, but usually less so. That’s largely because they’re more influenced by the equity markets; their maturities are shorter and their coupons higher, says Lindquist.

The Equity Factor

High-yield corporate bonds tend to see the initial round of rate hikes as a good thing, because it’s an improving economy that prompts them. “After the election we saw much of the sector-based rotation occurring in the equity market spillover to our market,” says Jack Cimarosa, a senior member on Lindquist’s team. “Rentals, construction and basically anything tied to infrastructure traded well.”

The Shorter the Better

The longer a bond’s maturity date, or duration, the more sensitive it is to rate moves. High-yield companies generally have shorter maturities than their higher-quality competitors. The duration of the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High-yield Index is 4.07 years, for instance, compared with 6.99 years for the Bloomberg Barclays Investment Grade Corporate Index.2

Greater Potential for Income

Having a high yield means a higher coupon or interest payment. Since total returns are the price moves of a bond plus coupon payments, then the higher the coupon, the more able the bond is to absorb any decline in dollar price caused by a rate hike. The Corporate High Yield Index’s yield is around 6.14%, versus 3.41% for the Barclays Investment Grade Index.3  

Going Down the Rating Ladder

To get the bigger coupons, his team focuses on the middle market – companies with $150 million to $1 billion in total debt. These companies are smaller and their bonds less traded than bigger deals, but they offer better yield.

 “The rating agencies – falsely, we believe - give credit for size, so middle-market bonds are always slightly lower-rated than we feel they should be,” says Lindquist. He also prefers to overweight the lowest rated parts of the market - Single-B and Triple-C names – where the yields are highest. 

“Going into weaker credits would be a harder decision to make if defaults were rising, but we believe defaults will be contained, and might even fall over the next six to 12 months,” he says. 

The entire high-yield market’s default rate is around 5.75%, but just 2.0% if energy, metals and mining sectors are stripped out.4

1. U.S. Treasury Aggregate; IG: Bloomberg Barclays Corporate Index; HY: Bloomberg Barclays Corporate High Yield Index.
2. Date: As of December 13, 2016.
3. As of December 13, 2016.
4. Moody’s Investors Service, as of December 13, 2016.


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Forecasts and/or estimates provided herein are subject to change and may not actually come to pass. Information regarding expected market returns and market outlooks is based on the research, analysis and opinions of the authors. These conclusions are speculative in nature, may not come to pass and are not intended to predict the future performance of any specific Morgan Stanley Investment Management product.

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Charts and graphs provided herein are for illustrative purposes only. . Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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 There is no assurance that a Portfolio will achieve its investment objective. Portfolios are subject to market risk, which is the possibility that the market values of securities owned by the Portfolio will decline and that the value of Portfolio shares may therefore be less than what you paid for them. Accordingly, you can lose money investing in this Portfolio. Please be aware that this Portfolio may be subject to certain additional risks. Fixed-income securities are subject to the ability of an issuer to make timely principal and interest payments (credit risk), changes in interest rates (interest-rate risk), the creditworthiness of the issuer and general market liquidity (market risk). In the current rising interest-rate environment, bond prices may fall and may result in periods of volatility and increased portfolio redemptions. Longer-term securities may be more sensitive to interest rate changes. In a declining interest-rate environment, the portfolio may generate less income. High yield securities (“junk bonds”) are lower rated securities that may have a higher degree of credit and liquidity risk. Public bank loans are subject to liquidity risk and the credit risks of lower rated securities. In general, equity securities’ values also fluctuate in response to activities specific to a company. The strategy may invest in restricted and illiquid securities, which may be difficult for the strategy to sell at a reasonable price. (Liquidity Risk). Derivative instruments may disproportionately increase losses and have a significant impact on performance. They also may be subject to counterparty, liquidity, valuation, correlation and market risks. Distressed and defaulted securities are speculative and involve substantial risks in addition to the risks of investing in junk bonds. The Portfolio will generally not receive interest payments on the distressed securities and the principal may also be at risk. These securities may present a substantial risk of default or may be in default at the time of investment, requiring the portfolio to incur additional costs. Preferred securities are subject to interest rate risk and generally decreases in value if interest rates rise and increase in value if interest rates fall. Mezzanine investments are subordinated debt securities, thus they carry the risk that the issuer will not be able to meet its obligations and they may lose value. Foreign securities are subject to currency, political, economic and market risks. The risks of investing in emerging market countries are greater than risks associated with investments in foreign developed countries. In general, ' values also fluctuate in response to activities specific to a company. The strategy may invest in, which may be difficult for the strategy to sell at a reasonable price. (Liquidity Risk).

The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index measures the market of USD-denominated, non-investment grade, fixed-rate, taxable corporate bonds. Securities are classified as high yield if the middle rating of Moody's, Fitch, and S&P is Ba1/BB+/BB+ or below. The Index excludes emerging market debt.
The Bloomberg Barclays Pan-European High Yield Index covers the universe of fixed-rate, sub-investment-grade debt denominated in euros or other European currencies (except Swiss francs). This index includes only euro-and sterling-denominated bonds, because no issues in the other European currencies now meet all the index requirements. To be included, the bonds must be rated high-yield (Ba1/BB+ or lower) by at least two of the following ratings agencies: Moody’s, S&P, Fitch. If only two of the three agencies rate the security, the lower rating is used to determine index eligibility. If only one of the three agencies rates a security, the rating must be high-yield. Bonds must have at least one year to maturity and an outstanding par value of at least EUR50 million. The index does not include non-rated bonds, and it excludes debt from entities in countries that are designated as emerging markets.

The JP Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index Global (EMBI Global) tracks total returns for traded external debt instruments in the emerging markets, and is an expanded version of the EMBI+. As with the EMBI+, the EMBI Global includes US dollar-denominated Brady bonds, loans, and Eurobonds with an outstanding face value of at least $500 million.

The Bloomberg Barclays Mortgage Index covers the mortgage backed pass-through securities of Ginnie Mae (GNMA), Fannie Mae (FNMA), and Freddie Mac (FHLMC). This Index is the Mortgage Backed Securities Fixed Rate component of the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index.

The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate Index is a broad-based benchmark that measures the investment grade, fixed-rate, taxable, corporate bond market.

The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Index includes public obligations of the U.S. Treasury.

The Bloomberg Barclays Euro Aggregate Corporate Bond Index measures the investment grade, euro-denominated, fixed-rate bond market of corporate issues. This index is the corporate bond component of the Bloomberg Barclays Euro Aggregate Bond Index.

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Chart Source: U.S. High Yield refers to the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index. European High Yield refers to the Bloomberg Barclays Pan-European High Yield Index. Emerging Markets Sovereigns refer to the JP Morgan EMBIG Index. U.S. Mortgages refers to the Bloomberg Barclays US Mortgage-Backed Sectors Index. U.S. Investment Grade refers to the Bloomberg Barclays Corporate Index. US Treasuries Aggregate refers to the Barclays US Treasuries Aggregate Index. European Investment Grade refers to the Bloomberg Barclays Euro Aggregate Corporate Index.

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