5 records broken in shocking year for bonds

A number of records were broken in 2015 in corporate bond markets, but not records investors would be happy about. 1) About 9 percent of the high-yield market now boasts yields above 20 percent—the highest amount since the financial crisis. 2) Junk bonds recorded their worst annual returns in a year not marked by a U.S. recession in a decade, with a fall of 4.7 percent. 3) The dispersion in spreads on high-yield bonds has also reached a post-crisis record. 4) The amount of investment-grade bonds that were sold soared to an “unprecedented” $1.3 trillion, Goldman Sachs said. The number of individual deals, however, was the lowest in more than a decade. 5) A record share of the corporate bond market is owned by mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, fuelling liquidity concerns. Other records broken in 2015 include the highest volatility in money flowing in and out of high-yield bond ETFs, the largest outflows from investment-grade mutual funds on record, plus a dwindling supply of CCC-rated debt. Full story available here: (VIEW LINK)