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There are dozens of answers here that explain why institutions buy sovereign debt, in general. What those comments don't explain is why anyone would buy this p
by snowwrestler 7y ago
There are dozens of answers here that explain why institutions buy sovereign debt, in general.
What those comments don't explain is why anyone would buy this particular sovereign debt.
So: why would anyone buy negative-interest-rate German bonds when U.S. Treasury bonds still have positive interest rates, and are available in much higher volumes?
- DubiousPusher 7y agoDiversification. Spreading your money across many governments which are unlikely to default is better than putting it all in one.
- antaviana 7y agoWith diversification you decrease the risk of losing everything and increase the risk of losing something.
- hendzen 7y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interest_rate_parity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interest_rate_parity
- mdemare 7y agoYes. The difference in interest rates implies that the EURUSD exchange rate is expected to rise (slowly) in the coming decades.
- camjw 7y agoBecause you’re a European and have to pay your taxes (or your investors, or other people) in euros, so don’t want any exposure to the Euro/Dollar exchange rate.
- graedus 7y agoI think there are laws stating that certain kinds of German institutions must buy German bonds, but I'm not sure.
- whatok 7y agoBecause those positive yields are only available if you don't hedge your FX risk. Most institutional investors have a mandate to hedge FX risk and this will take UST returns for EUR investors negative.