High yield bonds are risky, but they’re not as risky as stocks. If you compare the historical returns and risk of U.S. stocks versus high yields bonds, you’ll find that high yield bonds in fact have a better return to risk ratio. That’s not to say that junk bonds are without any risk. To the contrary, during periods of poor economic performance, even a diversified portfolio of these securities has lost as much as 34 percent of its value. Still, that’s much better than stocks, which have lost more than 60 percent of their value during previous market crises, even if you hold a diversified basket or index fund of the highest quality U.S. stocks.
High yield bonds are risky in part because they are issued by corporations that have low credit ratings. If you buy individual junk bonds, they can be very risky. For example, if you have a large percentage of your investments tied up in a single high yield bond, and it defaults, then you can lose 100% of that investment, and that would make a serious dent in your portfolio.
But you can also minimize the risk in these securities by buying a diversified high yield mutual fund or index fund (ETF). There are two popular high yield bond ETFs: the SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond fund (with ticker JNK), and the iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond Fund (which trades under the symbol HYG). These are both index funds, and while you’ll get the return of the index (minus annual expenses), this may not necessarily be the best way to invest in this market. Actively managed funds have the option in investing in more or less risky junk bonds. Some high yield bond funds hold relatively high rated bonds, while others consist of much more speculative portfolios. One fund that holds very high quality junk bonds is the Vanguard High Yield Bond Fund. It may not return as much as some of the others, but that’s the price you pay for sleeping a little better at night. In investment, risk and return go hand in hand. If you want to benefit from the potentially higher returns of high yield bonds, you’ll have to also be willing to take on some additional risk.