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Daily inflation-indexed bonds (also known as inflation-linked bonds or colloquially as linkers) are bonds where the principal is indexed to
inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduct ...
or deflation on a daily basis. They are thus designed to hedge the inflation risk of a bond. The first known inflation-indexed bond was issued by the Massachusetts Bay Company in 1780. The market has grown dramatically since the British government began issuing inflation-linked Gilts in 1981. As of 2019, government-issued inflation-linked bonds comprise over $3.1 trillion of the international debt market. The inflation-linked market primarily consists of
sovereign bond A government bond or sovereign bond is a form of Bond (finance), bond issued by a government to support government spending, public spending. It generally includes a commitment to pay periodic interest, called Coupon (finance), coupon payments' ...
s, with privately issued inflation-linked bonds constituting a small portion of the market.


Structure

Daily inflation-indexed bonds pay a periodic coupon that is equal to the product of the principal and the nominal coupon rate. For some bonds, such as in the case of TIPS, the underlying principal of the bond changes, which results in a higher
interest In finance and economics, interest is payment from a borrower or deposit-taking financial institution to a lender or depositor of an amount above repayment of the principal sum (that is, the amount borrowed), at a particular rate. It is distin ...
payment when multiplied by the same rate. For example, if the annual coupon of the bond were 5% and the underlying principal of the bond were 100 units, the annual payment would be 5 units. If the inflation index increased by 10%, the principal of the bond would increase to 110 units. The coupon rate would remain at 5%, resulting in an interest payment of 110 x 5% = 5.5 units. For other bonds, such as the Series I United States Savings Bonds, the interest rate is adjusted according to inflation. The relationship between coupon payments, breakeven daily inflation and real interest rates is given by the
Fisher equation In financial mathematics and economics, the Fisher equation expresses the relationship between nominal interest rates and real interest rates under inflation. Named after Irving Fisher, an American economist, it can be expressed as real interest ...
. A rise in coupon payments is a result of an increase in inflation expectations, real rates, or both.


Real yield

The real yield of any bond is the annualized growth rate, less the rate of inflation over the same period. This calculation is often difficult in principle in the case of a nominal bond, because the yields of such a bond are specified for future periods in nominal terms, while the inflation over the period is an unknown rate at the time of the calculation. However, in the case of inflation-indexed bonds such as TIPS, the bond yield is specified as a rate in excess of inflation, so the real yield can be easily calculated using a standard bond calculation formula.


Global issuance

The most liquid instruments are
Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities United States Treasury securities, also called Treasuries or Treasurys, are government debt instruments issued by the United States Department of the Treasury to finance government spending as an alternative to taxation. Since 2012, U.S. go ...
(TIPS), a type of US Treasury security, with about $500 billion in issuance. The other important inflation-linked markets are the UK Index-linked Gilts with over $300 billion outstanding and the French OATi/OAT€i market with about $200 billion outstanding.
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
,
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
,
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and
Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...
also issue inflation-indexed bonds, as well as a number of Emerging Markets, most prominently
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.


Inflation-indexed bond indices

Inflation-indexed bond indices include the family of
Barclays Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...
Inflation Linked Bond Indices, such as the Barclays Inflation Linked Euro Government Bond Indices, and the
Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, ...
U.S. Treasury: U.S. TIPS index."Lehman Brothers: Global Family of Indices - Daily Returns".
/ref>


See also

*
Fisher equation In financial mathematics and economics, the Fisher equation expresses the relationship between nominal interest rates and real interest rates under inflation. Named after Irving Fisher, an American economist, it can be expressed as real interest ...
* Constant Item Purchasing Power Accounting


References


External links


TIPSInflation-linked Gilts


Print

* Deacon, Mark, Andrew Derry, and Dariush Mirfendereski; ''Inflation-Indexed Securities: Bonds, Swaps, and Other Derivatives'' (2nd edition, 2004) Wiley Finance. . * Benaben, Brice, and Sebastien Goldenberg (ed.); ''Inflation Risks and Products'' (Dec. 2008) Riskbooks. . * Canty, Paul and Markus Heider; "Inflation Markets: A Comprehensive and Cohesive Guide" (2012) Risk Books. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Inflation-Indexed Bond Bonds (finance) Government bonds Inflation