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From what I understand it’s moreso for institutional investors that have lots of capital they need to park somewhere. Making the bet that the gov will be around
by andreilys 7y ago
From what I understand it’s moreso for institutional investors that have lots of capital they need to park somewhere. Making the bet that the gov will be around longer the bank
But for retail investors who can store their money in a FDIC insured savings account it’s not clear why they would buy negative yield bonds.
- 0xffff2 7y agoSo for an institutional investor, a negative yield bond is essentially a hedge against bank failure?
- andreilys 7y agoYea that’s a good way to think about it
- md224 7y agoDoes that mean a negative yield indicates a loss of trust in banks? That institutional investors are so desperate to avoid relying on banks that they're willing to take a loss on gov't bonds?
- mdemare 7y agoNo, institutional investors never put vast sums of money in banks, regardless of the yield.
- ryanobjc 7y agoAlso, look at it this way, if you have, let's say $5b on deposit at a bank, and you need to give it to someone else for some reason. Well transferring that money could destabilize the bank. They might refuse to let you withdraw it quickly. etc. Bonds are easily and instantly transferable privately without causing major market loss. This is the thing about huge finance like this, there's a gravity to money, and your intuitions from having bank accounts, money, etc, doesn't apply because entirely new problem appear you will never have. What if every time you paid a major bill at your credit union you threatened the solvency of that institution?