Hooks in the record books
Are CCC rated bonds compensating us enough for default risk? Based on historical default rates, the answer is a resounding “no”. Moody’s most recent annual default study looks at global default data from 1920-2005, and on a five year moving average, the historical global default rate for CCC rated bonds is a rather worrying 29.7%. So, if you bought a CCC rated bond now, based on an historical default rate, there is almost a 1 in 3 chance that the bond you bought would default over a five year period.
It’s all very well looking at historical averages, but are we in an “historically average” credit environment right now? Again, definitely not. The global economy had one of its strongest years ever in 2006, which goes a long way to explaining why defaults have remained so low. In Europe, following the default of Schefenacker, only 2 out of 155 companies’ bonds are trading at distressed levels (ie yielding 10% more than government bonds) indicating that they are likely to default soon.
Even though balance sheets are generally very healthy and the credit environment is very supportive, it is difficult to be bullish on something that is the most expensive it has ever been. In my funds I am being cautious on triple-Cs. Where I do hold them it is because they have short maturities or we think that they are likely to be refinanced. I’m not hooked
The value of investments will fluctuate, which will cause prices to fall as well as rise and you may not get back the original amount you invested. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.


18 years of comment
Discover historical blogs from our extensive archive with our Blast from the past feature. View the most popular blogs posted this month - 5, 10 or 15 years ago!


Bond Vigilantes
Get Bond Vigilantes updates straight to your inbox