Welcome to the corporate-bond market, where the costs of
trading are about as transparent as the waters of the Big Muddy
River after a hard rain. Most investors own bonds through mutual funds or
exchange-traded funds. But the household sector, including individual
investors, still holds nearly $430 billion in corporate bonds, according to the
Federal Reserve. If you buy bonds directly, it’s vital to keep trading costs
from devouring your income, especially in today’s world of scrimpy interest
rates.
Lawrence Harris, a finance professor at the University of
Southern California and former chief economist at the Securities and Exchange
Commission, has just completed a study of how expensive corporate bonds are to
trade. Prof. Harris analyzed bond-price quotations gleaned through Interactive
Brokers Group, the deep-discount brokerage firm where he is a member of the
board of directors, and trade data from the Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority. He estimates that individual investors are paying bond dealers and
other middlemen an average of $7.72 per $1,000 of principal value to buy corporate
bonds. If you paid that much to buy stocks, 200 shares of a $50 stock would run
you at least $77.20 in trading costs—instead of the roughly $10 that you would
pay at most online brokerage firms.
Corporate bonds yield an average of 3.3%, according to
Barclays. So Mr. Harris’s analysis suggests that trading costs consume roughly
the first three months’ worth of income on the average corporate bond—assuming
you pay your broker only to buy but not to sell.
Anyone can see how investors get nicked by consulting the
Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine, or Trace. Developed by Finra, which
oversees how investments are marketed to the public, Trace shows the prices at
which bonds are bought and sold, within 15 minutes after the trade. According
to Trace, a dealer bought $30,000 of 6.5% bonds issued by Lowe’s Cos., maturing
in 2029, from a customer at $124.419 per $100 of principal value—the lowest
price those bonds had traded at in more than a week. Three seconds later, a
dealer sold $30,000 worth—presumably the same firm selling the same lot of
bonds—to another dealer for $125.044.
The first dealer appears to have pocketed the difference in
price, or “markup,” of $6.25 per $1,000 of principal value. The firm made
$187.50 in three seconds, at what appears to have been zero risk to itself. Around
the same time, the bid-ask spread on Lowe’s common stock on the New York Stock
Exchange was two cents per share. Adjusting for the difference in price between
the two securities, the bond was at least 20 times more expensive to trade than
the stock.
If you invest directly in corporate bonds rather than in
bond mutual funds or ETFs, there are a few ways you can limit your trading
costs. First, hold your bonds to maturity so you avoid the expenses of selling.
Stick to high-quality debt, generally rated A or better by credit-rating firms
such as Moody’s or Standard & Poor’s.
William Rockett, a managing director of income solutions at
Charles Schwab, suggests asking your broker to give you the total cost to buy a
particular bond you’re interested in. Then go to Trace and see the last price
it traded at. If your broker’s quote is more than, say, 25 cents higher, you
may be able to get a better deal elsewhere.
Michael Ziegelbaum, head of electronic fixed-income trading
at Mizuho Securities in New York, recommends “good old-fashioned bargaining.” If
your broker quotes you a price of $101.50, offer $101 or $100.75. Just as you
can enter a limit order for a stock that stipulates the highest price you are
willing to pay, you can—and should—place limit orders for bonds as well.
Be careful, though: Some brokerages may levy a surcharge if
you place a limit order or ask to trade through an account representative
rather than the website. Fidelity Investments, on the other hand, lets you set
a limit order at will—and even offers a glimpse of pending bids and offers in
the market—when you request a bond trade online.
Click here to access the full
article on The Wall Street Journal.