Panoramic: The Power of Duration

The early summer surge in bond yields will have focused the minds of many investors on the allocation of assets in their portfolios, particularly their fixed income holdings.

The largest risk to a domestic currency fixed income portfolio is duration. When investors discuss duration they are more often than not referring to a bond or portfolio’s sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Corporate bonds however also carry credit spread duration – the sensitivity of prices to moves in credit spreads (the market price of default risk).

Exposure to interest rate risk and credit risk should be considered independently within a portfolio. Clearly the desirable proportion of each depends heavily on the economic environment and future expectations of moves in interest rates.

I believe that the US economy and, to a lesser extent, the UK economy are improving and at some point interest rates will begin to move closer to their (significantly higher) long-term averages. We may still be a way off from central banks tightening monetary policy, but they will when they believe their economies are healthy enough to withstand it. Since a healthier economy increases the probability of tightening sooner, and is positive for the corporate sector, one should endeavour to gain exposure to credit risk premiums while limiting exposure to higher future interest rates.

In the latest version of our Panoramic series I examine the US bond market sell-off of 1994 to see what we can learn from the historical experience. Additionally, I analyse the power of duration and its importance to fixed income investors during a bond market sell-off.