Bonds are the closest alternative to bank deposits in the stock market. These are securities (debt obligations of companies or the state) that work on approximately the same principle as a bank deposit. You buy a bond for 100 rubles, and after a year (or any other agreed period) you are promised to return these 100 rubles, plus a fixed percentage of income, which can be paid once a quarter, half a year or year. When purchasing a bond with a face value of 100 rubles. for 100 rub. with an interest rate of 10% per annum for a period of 1 year, in a year you will receive 110 rubles.

Bonds are traded on the stock market. They can be purchased either independently by opening a fund, or through a management company by purchasing a share in a mutual fund.

Bonds are issued for a specific period. It can be 1, 2, 3 years or more. If you decide to sell the bonds ahead of schedule, for example, in six months, then if the market situation is favorable, you can return their full value and receive interest for six months in full, that is, 100+5 rubles.

Bonds are traded on the stock market and their value may decline. It depends on the international situation, the policy of the Central Bank, the situation in a particular company or industry. Market participants buy and sell securities every day. For this reason, if you decide to sell what you bought for 100 rubles. bond six months after purchase, against the backdrop of negative news, you can make a mistake. You, of course, will receive all the interest on it for 6 months, that is, 5 rubles, but at the same time, the cost of the security itself may fall to 95 rubles. This is the amount it can be sold for. In the end, at best, you will remain with your own.

But if the situation changes in your favor and, for example, the United States lifts sanctions on Russia, the value of the bonds, on the contrary, will increase, and you will be able to sell it, for example, for 105 rubles, and again receive your interest in the amount of 5 rubles. However, we repeat, you can be guaranteed to return your 100 rubles plus 10% per annum only when the previously agreed release date has passed.

Unlike a bank deposit, where the state guarantees the return of 1.4 million rubles. in the event of a bank closure, the return of funds on the bond is guaranteed only by the one who issued the bond - the state in the case of government bonds or the company. For this reason, when choosing a suitable bond, you need to focus not only on its term and profitability, but also on the reliability of the company that issued it.

What types of bonds are there?

Government bonds

This is one of the most reliable ways to invest money. This option is interesting, first of all, for those who like to keep funds in Sberbank, where the rate on a deposit for a period of one or three years is 5-6% per annum, and on a deposit with the possibility of replenishment and partial withdrawal without loss of interest is 1.5-2.3%. At the same time, the yield on OFZ (federal loan bonds) is about 8%, the interest on 2-year OFZ is about 8.12% per annum. The state acts as a guarantor of money return, so you can safely invest more than 1.4 million rubles in OFZs.

If you want to get a higher yield, you can purchase municipal or regional bonds issued by a large city or region. The coupon income on such bonds is higher than on OFZs, and it is also not subject to income tax. But here the risks are higher, because a separate region could theoretically declare itself bankrupt, so it is better to choose the largest metropolitan areas and rich regions, such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, etc. A nice bonus is that income from government bonds is not subject to taxes.

Profitability: up to 7.5-8.5% per annum

Entry threshold: 1,000 rubles (that’s how much one bond costs).

Corporate bonds

If the yield on OFZ seems too modest, then you can invest in corporate bonds (company securities). In conditions of economic instability, it is better to choose securities of the most famous and large companies, such as Gazprom, Rosneft, Sberbank, VTB, Severstal, etc.

But there is one “but”. From the income received, you will have to deduct not only the broker's commission, but also the 13% personal income tax, which is levied on interest on bonds.

There is one life hack. For bonds issued no earlier than 2017, it will be possible not to pay personal income tax, but only on the coupon that will be credited to the investor’s account from January 1, 2018. If you buy a bond on these conditions, then the yield on it will be almost equal to the coupon rate. For example, the other day Gazprombank placed three-year bonds at a rate of 8.65% per annum. That is, having invested 100 thousand in a bond with such a rate, you will receive an income in the amount of 8400-8500 rubles in a year, minus the broker's commission. or about 8.4-8.5% per annum.

Profitability: 8.4-8.5% per annum

Entry threshold: 1,000 rubles

People's Bonds

In the spring, the Ministry of Finance launched a special instrument - simplified so-called people's federal loan bonds or OFZ-n. The rate on them is even higher than on ordinary OFZs and amounts to 8.5% per annum. Such securities are usually placed for three years. Coupon income on them is also not taxed. However, an additional commission will have to be paid to banks that act as sales agents. Moreover, this commission is greater, the smaller the amount invested. When purchasing securities worth less than 50 thousand rubles, the commission will be 1.5%. If 50-300 thousand rubles - 1%, more than 300 thousand rubles - 0.5%. In addition, banks may charge a commission for early presentation of a bond for redemption, and with early repayment, you can lose part of the accumulated coupon income. However, if you hold the paper until the end of the term and invested 100 thousand rubles in these bonds, you will ultimately receive an income of 8.4% per annum minus the bank commission or 8,400 rubles.

Yield: 8.4% per annum

Entry threshold: RUB 30,000.

How to buy?

People's bonds can only be purchased at the offices of Sberbank and VTB24. You can invest in other bonds in 3 ways.

1. Open a brokerage account

You can purchase bonds by opening an account with a brokerage company. To do this, you must first choose a broker. The full list can be viewed on the Moscow Exchange website.

To conclude a contract, you will need a passport. The broker will open a brokerage account and help you install a trading program on your computer, and also explain how to buy a particular security.

The broker earns from client commissions from trading operations. In order not to overpay, you must ask to select a tariff for your specific needs. Let them know that you intend to make a minimum number of transactions, that is, buy and sell the paper in a year or two. The bond can be purchased through your personal account after you have installed the trading application on your computer, following the instructions of the broker. When you decide to withdraw funds, inform the broker about this desire. The money will be transferred from the brokerage account to the bank account, and from there it can be withdrawn at the cash register or through an ATM.

The commission for the purchase/sale of bonds ranges from 0.025% of the transaction amount. You also need to pay 100-177 rubles. per year for storing securities in the depository. An additional small amount will have to be paid for withdrawing funds (approximately 10-50 rubles). The amount of commissions depends on the broker and transaction amounts.

2. Open IIS

An individual investment account (IIA) is a type of brokerage account, but it was intended by the authorities so that ordinary citizens (like you and me) would start buying stocks and bonds. For this purpose, the state has come up with benefits for those who open an IIS. The rules are as follows: if you deposited up to 400 thousand rubles into your account. and do not withdraw funds within 3 years, then you will be returned a tax deduction in the amount of 13% of the amount in the account. The deduction can be obtained already in the first year by submitting a declaration to the tax office.

Such an account can also be opened through a broker. There is a limit on the number of IIS – one account per person. You can deposit up to 1 million rubles on an IIS, but you will only receive a deduction for 400 thousand rubles. True, in a year you can report another 400 thousand and receive another deduction. However, the second amount must also be kept in the account for 3 years from the date of deposit, etc. If within three years you still withdraw funds, the deduction will have to be returned to the state.

“In addition to coupon income on OFZ, which is not subject to personal income tax, an investor can receive a tax deduction in the amount of 13% of the amount deposited into the IIS. Thus, only in the first year of owning OFZ on an IIS, you can get approximately 21% per annum. Of course, in a year the profitability will decrease, because it will not be possible to receive a tax deduction every year on the previously deposited amount. And yet, the profitability of investing in OFZs through an IIS exceeds the best bank offers for deposits,” explains Alexander Dubrov, head of the online trading department at Otkritie Broker.

You can put not only government bonds on an IIS, but also corporate securities. However, on the one hand, you can get a tax deduction for them, on the other hand, you will have to pay personal income tax on coupon income.

3. Buy mutual funds

If you don’t want to understand trading programs or search for the right security, you can invest in bonds through a management company (MC). To do this, it is enough to buy a share in a mutual fund (mutual investment fund). A mutual fund is a large portfolio with bonds of companies from different industries. The manager will take on all the headaches.

The managers themselves claim that investing in bonds through them is not only more convenient, but also more profitable than investing on your own, because a professional is looking after the funds.

“Last year was very successful for the bond market, and the yield of bond mutual funds was 13-14%,” says Alfa Capital analyst Andrey Shenk.

However, no manager can promise a guaranteed return, so you can earn more or less on a mutual fund than on independently purchased bonds.

From the amount of income you need to subtract commissions, which in the case of management companies are much higher than in the case of brokers. A management commission is added (1-2% of the fund’s assets), discounts/surcharges that are paid by the investor at the time of purchase/redemption of fund shares. In total, about 1.5-2% will have to be subtracted from the profit received for the management and redemption of the share. However, the share can also be put into an IIS and receive a tax deduction in the amount of the same 13% per annum.

conclusions

Simple arithmetic shows that investing in bonds is more profitable than deposits. By studying this tool, you can get a yield of more than 12% per annum. To do this, you will have to open a brokerage account, research the market and pay commissions for brokerage services, and sometimes income taxes.

The yield on government bonds is higher than deposit rates, and the risk of default is much lower. Which bonds should you buy today?

In September 2015, officials from the Ministry of Finance said that it would be a good idea to make federal loan bonds (OFZ) as accessible as bank deposits. This idea implied that buying securities would become easier than it is now: Russians would be able to open a special bank account and invest in OFZs through it. The Ministry of Finance announced the development of a special tool for citizens with a special treatment procedure. But so far the matter has not moved forward.

Today, bank deposits remain the only widely used instrument for investing funds, says NAFI managing partner Pavel Samiev. A very narrow circle of professional investors invest in OFZs, but not because Russians consider OFZs a high-risk instrument, he explains. According to Samiev, people simply don’t understand how to buy them.

Today you can purchase bonds either through a brokerage account or as part of trust management services through a management company. And, according to Samiev, if the Ministry of Finance’s idea had been implemented, Russians would have become much more active in investing in OFZs. “Many investment products - in particular, investment life insurance - became widespread precisely after banks began to offer them to their clients and help with registration,” he recalls.

Buy now

Now is a good time to invest in OFZs. The profitability on them is at least not inferior to the rates on deposits in banks with state participation, notes managing director of BKS Broker Oleg Chikhladze. The highest yield to maturity is for bonds maturing in 2027 (OFZ issue 29007) - 14.27% per annum. According to the Sravni.ru service, none of the Russian banks gives such a rate on deposits. According to the Central Bank, in the first ten days of February the maximum interest rate of the largest banks in terms of the volume of deposits of citizens was 9.76%.

Another argument in favor of buying OFZs is their reliability. This is precisely what former Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin paid attention to when he advised citizens to buy OFZs. The reliability of OFZs is determined by the credit rating of the state, because in essence it (represented by the Ministry of Finance) issues these securities and pays off obligations, explains Vladimir Kapustyansky, leading specialist of the trust management department of KIT Finance Broker. It is worth taking into account the rating assigned by the international agencies S&P, Moody’s, Fitch.

If the OFZ coupon payment is overdue or the principal debt is not repaid on time, a default occurs, continues Kapustyansky. “An example is the events of 1998,” he reminds. In such a situation, the state restructures the debt to OFZ holders and then compensates for losses. Banks may lose their licenses, and this has been happening more and more recently. However, Russia has responded to its obligations in modern history, albeit sometimes with a delay, Kapustyansky is encouraging.

If we compare OFZs with a bank deposit in the amount of up to 1.4 million rubles, then the risks are the same - the state is ultimately responsible for both guarantees on deposits and for the fulfillment of obligations under OFZs, agrees Natalia Shilova, deputy director of the center for macroeconomic forecasting and investment strategy of B&N Bank.

But if the investment amount is higher, then the OFZ is more reliable: Russia’s default on its debts is less likely than the default of any private company - even though it is at the “” level. Only a few Russian banks can provide the same level of reliability as OFZ, agrees Chikhladze. In terms of reliability, Russian OFZs can only be inferior to securities of foreign issuers, but we must take into account that the yield on them will be significantly lower, adds Shilova.

Be patient

Which OFZ issues should you invest in? For the most cautious investors, it makes sense to focus on issues with maturity in one or two years and a yield to maturity of 9.83-11.03% per annum (hereinafter Cbonds data as of February 24), says Chikhladze. Short-term OFZs, as well as OFZs with a floating coupon and a par value that is indexed to the inflation rate, are the most conservative of the instruments, agrees Andrei Shenk, an analyst at Capital Management Company. “Their price changes very little, and the credit risk can be equated to zero,” he explained.

However, those who count on high income should take a closer look at medium- and long-term OFZs, recommends leading analyst of Promsvyazbank Dmitry Gritskevich. The fact is that they have the greatest growth potential: now the yield on such securities is up to 14% per annum, he explains. Considering that by the end of the year the key rate may be reduced to 9-9.5%, the price of these OFZs will most likely increase (a decrease in rates means a fall in bond yields and an increase in their prices), adds Gritskevich.

Schenk also advises buying long OFZs. The reason is still the same: inflation has already dropped below 10% in annual terms and will continue to decline at least until the end of the first quarter of 2016. The key rate will follow, Schenk believes. The longer the maturity of a bond, the more its price depends on market rates, and therefore has a higher growth potential, Schenk added.

How OFZs are structured:

OFZs are bonds issued by the Ministry of Finance. In effect, the investor lends money to the state. All OFZs are coupon, that is, they pay coupon income (usually once every six months). The par value (or value) of the security is returned at the end of the term - on the maturity date. Some OFZ issues also provide for partial repayment of the face value (debt amortization). The lower the Central Bank key rate, the lower the OFZ yield to maturity, but the higher the market price of the paper and vice versa.

There are two types of OFZs - with fixed (there are most of them) and floating income. In the first case, the amount of coupon income is predetermined for the entire circulation period of the paper; in the second, it varies depending on some indicator. Now for market OFZs this is either the Ruonia money market rate (such OFZs are called floaters) or inflation. The coupon income on floaters is calculated every six months based on the arithmetic average of the rate for the previous six months, increased by a certain premium (currently it is 74-120 bp).

Today, only one market issue of OFZ is linked to inflation. The paper matures in August 2023. The investor receives a fixed coupon of 2.5% per annum, but the denomination of the paper changes every day - it is indexed by the amount of monthly inflation, taken with a lag of three months. OFZ are traded on the Moscow Exchange. The face value is 1 thousand rubles, but most of the securities are traded a little more or a little less than the par value. For example, of the market OFZs, the most expensive currently costs 107% of the nominal value, and the cheapest - 72%.

There are several specific OFZ issues that are especially interesting: 24018 (maturity in 2017), 29006 (in 2025), 26217 (in 2021) and 26215 (in 2023), notes Kapustyansky. The highest yield to maturity is given by the first of them (11.03%), the lowest by the last (9.96%). The first issue is also recommended by Chikhladze.

It is noteworthy that today the yield on bonds for different periods is almost the same, although in theory long-term securities should bring more due to increased risk, Shilova emphasizes. The yield on bonds for a period of one to six years is almost the same and fluctuates in the range of 10.06-10.33%. Moreover, the highest yield of them is for securities with a maturity date in 2017, and the lowest - in 2019.

This is due to the fact that the market is waiting for a further reduction in rates, suggests Konstantin Glazov, head of the debt instruments trading department at Aton. True, there is no certainty that this will happen. “Oil prices are at a low level, the budget deficit has grown, which can be reduced by weakening the ruble,” he argues. To justify the OFZ yield below 10% per annum, the rate needs to be lowered to 9%, that is, by 2 percentage points, Glazov said.

When investing in OFZs, it is important to take into account the circulation period of the paper; it must coincide with the investment horizon, notes Chikhladze. Otherwise, you risk finding yourself in an unpleasant situation. “For example, you bought a one-year bond with a planning horizon of three years. Rates will most likely fall, and you will not be able to “shift” money at the same interest rate,” says Shilova. As a result, the income for three years will be lower than if you bought a three-year OFZ, she says and clarifies that this logic only works for those who hold the paper until maturity - with speculative trading everything is different.

Ordinary citizens should not speculate and catch movements in bond prices, Chikhladze believes. According to him, the best option for an inexperienced investor is a passive strategy. “You open an individual investment account and buy OFZ with a yield of 10% per annum. Every year you report funds to this account and receive a tax deduction in the amount of 13% of the investment amount,” he says. As a result, you earn much more income than on a deposit, with a low level of risk, explains Chikhladze.​

Interesting statistics, based on the results of a study by the Standard & Poor's rating agency on the financial literacy of citizens of different countries, showed that in terms of financial literacy (and in the simplest questions), citizens of Russia occupy the same place with citizens of Cameroon, Madagascar and Togo, and are inferior to Zimbabwe and Mongolia .

Not very pleasant statistics, especially considering the current situation in the Russian economy. I really want to correct these statistics and, first of all, I think it is important to talk about this method of obtaining investment income as bonds. It is investments in bonds that, in my opinion, are extremely undervalued and unpopular in society, despite the fact that they deserve great interest.

Common associations with the word bonds are approximately the following: low-yield, complex, risky.

Now I propose to compare bonds with a bank deposit in a number of parameters.

But before we start, a few words about bonds.

Bond is a debt security issued by the issuer (state, company, municipality) and guaranteeing its owner the return of its nominal value within a specified period, as well as the receipt of additional income on it. The extra income is often paid through a coupon (a regular payment on the bond).

In simpler terms, by purchasing a bond you become a creditor of the issuer of this bond and, accordingly, your income: the loan amount that will be returned to you + interest.

Further, in order to immediately remove the question that a bond is a risky security, we will only talk about OFZs, that is, bonds issued by the state. This, by the way, is the most reliable investment instrument of all theoretically possible within the Russian Federation.

How bonds are traded - OFZs are traded on the stock market, meaning to buy them you need to have a brokerage account. The process itself is as follows. Each issue of OFZ bonds (and there can be many of them) has its own conditions: its own coupon (% yield), expressed in rubles, its own payment period (usually the coupon is paid every six months), its own par value (usually 1 bond = 1000 rubles) and your maturity date (on this date you will get back the bond's face value - 1000 rubles).

Ideally, the purchasing process might look like this: You deposited 10,000 rubles into a brokerage account, which allowed you to buy 10 bonds of 1,000 rubles each. The bond coupon is 50 rubles, the payment period is 182 days, the maturity date is December 31, 2020. This means that until the end of 2020, every 182 days (half a year) you will receive 50 rubles for one bond, and on December 31, 2020, you will receive 1000 rubles for each bond. Thus, the annual yield for the year can be calculated as 50*2/1000 = 0.1 or 10% per annum (coupon payment twice a year). Not very profitable yet, but bonds have a number of interesting advantages.

Advantage 1: The market price of the bond.

The state, issuing OFZ with a nominal value of 1000 rubles per bond, is guaranteed to return to you exactly this nominal price of the bond, equal to 1000 rubles, on the maturity date. However, in the stock market, the value of a bond is not fixed and is determined by the market. This means that you can buy a bond with a par value of 1,000 rubles and a coupon of 50 for either 900 rubles (with a discount, 90% of the face value) or for 1,100 rubles (with a premium). From here your additional income can be built. The rule is that if the bank rate RISES, the market value of the bond FALLS, if the bank rate FALLS, the market value of the bond RISES. This is due to a fixed coupon income, to which the market price of the bond is adjusted so that the overall income remains the same.

So, when the Central Bank of the Russian Federation raised the rate to 17% in December 2014, the market price of many bonds fell to 75-80% of the nominal value to give interest income of about 15-17%. At the same time, now the rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation has decreased to 11% (and will continue to decrease), and the market value of those bonds has increased to 100% of their nominal value. Thus, in addition to the 15% coupon income, the owners received an additional 20-25% income due to changes in the market value of the bond. By the way, now there is a similar situation that can be taken advantage of.

Advantage 2: You can sell the bond at any time without losing income.

What happens if you decide to close your deposit early. Very often, you will lose all the income accumulated on the deposit. In the case of a bond, your ACI (accumulated coupon income) always stays with you, even if you only held the bond for 2 days. That part of the interest that has already been “dripped” will remain with you.

Benefit 3: Tax benefits and deductions on bonds.

Initially, all profits earned on the stock market are subject to personal income tax for residents of the Russian Federation equal to 13% of profits.

This does not apply to coupon income on bonds; you do not pay tax on them, and this is good news. The next news, which is even better, relates to special Individual Investment Accounts (IIA), which you can also open with a broker and for which you can annually return the 13% tax paid on any invested amount, up to 400,000 rubles.

That is, if you opened an IIS and deposited 400,000 rubles on it, you can receive a tax deduction in the amount of 400,000 * 0.13 = 52,000 rubles.

Add this 13% to the 10% bond coupon + 5-10% market income and you will get 23% GOVERNMENT GUARANTEED income + 5-10% market income.

Summarize:

Deposit – Reliability depends on the bank, the amount of insured funds is limited, the deposit period is usually no more than 3 years, interest is lost if withdrawn early, the expected return is at the level of inflation, lower liquidity.

OFZ bond - The most reliable instrument, with any investment period (from 1 to 25 years) and any amount, with the possibility of sale at any time without loss of accumulated income, with tax benefits and additional income on IIS 13%, expected return above inflation, high liquidity. Looking at this comparative assessment, it becomes obvious how convenient and liquid bonds are, and together with IIS, more profitable than any bank deposit. To buy bonds, you just need to open a brokerage account (no more difficult than opening a bank account).

That's all, buy investments, improve your financial literacy and remember:

Investments are not risky. It is risky to be an illiterate investor!

Learn more about the analysis of yield on OFZ bonds.

Bonds and deposits are very similar financial instruments in essence. In both cases, the investor acts as a lender - he lends money to the bank or issuer at interest. The essence is the same, but there are more differences. Let's consider in this article what to choose: bonds or bank deposit?

The main difference is that investments in bonds are not insured in any way, while bank deposits are insured up to 1,400 thousand. One can only hope that if the issuer goes bankrupt, there will be enough money to pay off the bonds. But receiving these payments involves a lot of hassle, while deposit insurance can be easily obtained from the bank using your passport.

The lack of insurance imposes the need to choose a reliable issuer. are considered the most reliable financial instrument on the Russian market, more reliable than a deposit in any Russian bank.

Comparison of bonds and bank deposit

1. By law, the bank is obliged to give you money upon request. In the case of bonds, there may be problems in obtaining money. If the bond is liquid, then there should be no problems with its sale. But if the bond you purchased is not very liquid, then there may not be buyers for it at the right time, or the price at which they want to buy the bond may not suit you. Or there will be buyers for only 200 bonds, and you want to sell 400.

2. If you terminate the deposit early, you lose the accumulated interest; on the bonds, the accumulated coupon income (ACI) will be paid.

3. From a taxation point of view, a deposit is more profitable, since a 35% tax is imposed only on the income that is received from the excess of the deposit interest rate over the refinancing rate + 5%. For bonds, a tax of 13% is withheld from coupon income and from sales income (with the exception of state, municipal and subfederal bonds, the coupon income on which is not taxed).

4. The deposit income is always fixed. The yield on a bond can change because the price of the bond can change. When the price of a bond falls, the yield to maturity of the bond increases. By purchasing a bond below par, you can receive additional income from rising prices, because the bond will be redeemed at par. Of course, these are special cases that need to be carefully analyzed. On the other hand, the price of the bond may fall at the moment when you need to sell the bond, meaning there is a risk of losing part of the principal amount.

5. Purchasing bonds comes with regular brokerage, custodial and tax costs. The higher the commission costs, the lower your actual income. Therefore, for a very small amount it may simply be unprofitable, since all the profit will be eaten up by “commissions” and taxes. For example, you bought a bond for 1000 rubles, with a coupon income of 90 rubles. Brokerage commission 0.05%, depository services 100 rubles, total 100.5 rubles. This means there is no point in buying just one bond, since the commissions exceed the income. Opening a deposit usually does not incur any additional costs.

6. The main advantage of bonds over deposits is the opportunity to get a return greater than the deposit, but for this you need to understand bonds. Personally, I don’t see any point in buying bonds that give a return less than the deposit. In my opinion, bonds are a more complex and risky instrument, which means you need to get a higher return from them.

Pros of bonds:

• a large selection of issuers and bonds, both in terms of reliability, yield and maturity. You can find bonds that will pay off in 10 or even more years, or you can also find those that will pay off in a month
• b O higher yield than on a deposit (don’t forget to take into account taxes and commissions)
• accumulated income is not lost when selling a bond
• bonds can be easily sold without leaving home, if liquidity allows
• additional opportunity to make money on rising bond prices

Disadvantages of bonds:

• investments are not insured
• income on corporate bonds is taxed
• risk of falling bond prices and interest rate risk

Comparison of yields on bonds and deposits.

To compare the yields of bonds and deposits, I will provide several graphs.

MICEX corporate bond index. This is an index of corporate bonds traded on the MICEX stock exchange. The index is calculated using the total return index method and shows the increase in capital invested in the index since the beginning of its calculation date, December 31, 2002. 100 rubles invested in this index by September 1, 2014 would have grown to 248 rubles, showing an average annual return of 8 .05%.

Another corporate bond index isIFX-CbondsIt is also calculated using the full income method.(total return index).The formula for calculating the index models the dynamics of the value of the indexsecurities portfolio, provided that all interest payments received are immediately reinvested in the samebond portfolio. IN100 rubles deposited into it on January 1, 2002 would have grown to 379.97 by September 17, 2014, showing an average return of 11.05.

The difference in the returns of the indices is explained by the fact that the indices are calculated by different organizations and their composition differs.

MICEX government bond index. 100 rubles invested in the index on December 31, 2002 would have turned into 317.32 rubles on September 1, 2014, showing a return of 10.4%.

Bank deposit profitability index. The role of interest rates on deposits is taken as the weighted average interest rates on ruble deposits of individuals in banks (including Sberbank of Russia) for a period of up to 1 year, except for demand deposits. 100 rubles invested in deposits with monthly capitalization on 01/01/2003 would have grown to 238.36 by 01/01/2014, showing an average return of 8.21%.

Bank deposit profitability index

Interest rates on bonds and deposits.

The interest rates that banks offer on their deposits and the yields on bonds to maturity change every month. Let's see their dynamics.

This graph shows the change in government bond yields to maturity. During the 2009 crisis, bond prices fell sharply, causing yields to rise to 15%. That is, if you bought government bonds at this time, you could count on a 15% yield to maturity.

This chart shows the effective yield to maturity of corporate bonds (blue chart). As you can see, during the crisis the yield on corporate bonds was above 17%.

Average deposit rates ranged from 6 to 14%.

individuals can take part in subscribing for their own bonds through bank offices; applications are accepted until November 21. The coupon rate will be from 7.9 to 8.1% per annum (the final rate will be formed based on the results of collecting applications), the circulation period is three years and four days. The minimum investment amount is 200 thousand rubles, coupons are paid every six months.

Sberbank completed a similar placement last month, placing bonds with a maturity of three years and two months and a coupon rate of 8%. According to Alexander Morozov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank, more than half of the demand for these securities was provided by individual investors (the total placement volume amounted to 40 billion rubles).

The bonds of these banks can be sold in secondary trading on the stock exchange without waiting for the maturity date.

How to buy bank bonds “for the population”

To purchase bonds, clients who come to the office will need to open a brokerage account and a securities account (if it is not already opened in these banks), in which the securities will be accounted for. Then you should transfer funds to the brokerage account and submit an order to purchase bonds.

When making each transaction (to purchase securities and to sell them on the secondary market, if you do not wait for redemption), you will need to pay a brokerage commission and an exchange commission. According to bank tariffs, the brokerage commission at RSHB is 0.0075-0.075% of the transaction amount, and the VTB Group commission is 0.012-0.0472% and depends on the volume of transactions. VTB Group also charges a one-time fee for depository services (RUB 150). These tariffs apply both when subscribing to securities at bank offices and during operations on the secondary market.

The Moscow Exchange commission on the bond market is 0.0125% when purchasing securities on the primary market and 0.01% for purchase and sale transactions on the secondary market.

How attractive is this?

The attractiveness of investments can be assessed by such parameters as profitability, reliability and the ability to quickly get funds back if necessary.

The bond rates offered by VTB and the Russian Agricultural Bank are higher than the rates on deposits, as evidenced by information on the websites of credit institutions. For example, at Rosselkhozbank, the maximum proposed rate on a ruble deposit for three years (a period comparable to the circulation period of the proposed bonds) is 7% per annum (for a deposit of 100 million rubles or more). In the VTB Group, the most favorable rate for deposits for up to a year is also 7% per annum.

“The yield is higher than deposit rates. Plus, due to changes in tax legislation, bond buyers will not pay tax on coupon income,” notes Mikhail Vashchenko, debt instruments trader at Aton Investment Company. According to the amendments to the Tax Code adopted this year, citizens are exempt from paying personal income tax on coupon income on ruble bonds issued during the period from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2020 (the tax begins to apply only if the coupon rate is 5 p.p. higher than the key rate of the Bank of Russia, which is now 8.25% per annum, however, the same mechanism applies to deposits). These changes take effect “no earlier than the first day of the next tax period for personal income tax,” that is, personal income tax will not be levied on coupons that will be paid starting next year.

“As for reliability, here, of course, the guarantee of the Deposit Insurance Agency does not apply, as with deposits. But, since we are talking about bonds of state banks, the probability of default is extremely low,” Postolenko notes. “The risk in the case of such bonds is low. So, if investors are positive towards stock instruments, they will be attracted by the slightly higher yield of such an instrument,” confirms Managing Director of the National Rating Agency (NRA) Pavel Samiev.

If we talk about the ability to quickly get funds back, when investing in such bonds there are some risks of losing money, says Postolenko. In a bank, the depositor has the right to withdraw early the entire amount placed on deposit at any time, and if we talk about bonds, the client will have to sell the securities at the market price, which may change in an unfavorable direction, and this will result in losses. However, the opposite is also true - if the price changes favorably, the bond owner can win, while paying a tax of 13% on the increase in the market value, the expert notes.

Bank or exchange

You can buy bonds of state banks (the securities currently offered in their offices have not yet entered the stock exchange, so we are talking about other issues) on the stock exchange on any day on the secondary market, if a person has a brokerage account and has access to trading. And in some cases, this may be more profitable than subscribing to new bonds through bank offices. “For example, now on the secondary market you can buy three-year RSHB securities with a yield of 8.3% per annum, that is, if we talk about holding the paper until maturity, it may be more profitable to buy securities on the secondary market,” says Postolenko.

However, he notes that the average investor in this case will have to understand the market. “For the average person, when buying on the secondary market, they need to look at the paper. In particular, find out when the bond was issued, since there will be no tax on the coupon only if the paper was issued in 2017 or later. The investor will also need to monitor the offers himself (early redemption on a pre-agreed date. - RBC), since coupon rates may change during offers (there are no offers for the two bond issues currently offered in the offices of VTB and RSHB. - RBC),” notes the specialist. If you choose bonds on the secondary market yourself, you can accidentally buy a low-liquid issue with a large gap between the bid and offer prices, as a result of which it will be more difficult to sell this security profitably if necessary.

Mikhail Vashchenko also notes that buying securities on the secondary market is more difficult for ordinary citizens than subscribing to bonds in a bank office. “For example, you need to install an online trading system or call a trader and make a transaction “by voice.” The accommodations currently offered by banks in their offices are convenient from the client’s point of view. If this was an off-market placement and the coupon rate was too low, it would be possible to discuss whether purchasing the securities makes sense. But the proposed rates are adequate,” he notes.

Difference from “folk” OFZs

The pioneer in attracting individuals into bonds through bank offices was the state, which proposed the first issue of OFZ for the population (OFZ-n). Only two banks acted as agents of the Ministry of Finance - Sberbank and VTB24, attracting investors through their offices.

The rate on these securities is nominally quite attractive - 8.5% per annum, provided that the investor holds the bonds for three years. However, the commission that banks charge when selling OFZ-n is 0.5-1.5%, depending on the purchase amount. In addition, these securities are not traded on the open market, and to sell them you must pay the same high commission.