Even if you are remotely interested in the bond market, you would have heard of this term called “nominal yield.” It means the interest rate or coupon rate paid annually by a bond issuer to an investor. An issuer pays the coupon rate on a bond to a bondholder until the maturity of the bond.
Nominal yield is expressed as a percentage of a bond’s par value (or the face value). As the nominal yield is not expressed as a percentage of a bond’s current market price, it does not represent its current yield.
Let us say that a bond has a par value of ₹ 1,000 and a 5% coupon rate. Suppose the bond matures in 2040 and has interest payable once a year. Hence, the bondholder will earn ₹ 50 annual interest on it till 2040. Now that you know what nominal yield is, let us learn how to calculate it.
How to Calculate Nominal Yield?
To calculate the nominal yield of a bond, you should add all the interest payments receivable on it in a year. Suppose you get only one interest payment in a year, then that is it. However, if you get two interest payments or three interest payments, you should add all of them to calculate your yearly interest income.
Then, you must divide the total amount you receive as interest from a bond by its face/par value. You can use this formula to do so:
Total Interest Payments in a Year / Face or Par Value of a Bond
Suppose you get two interest payments of ₹ 400 each on a bond. It shows that you receive ₹ 800 as interest on this bond annually. Let us say that its face value is ₹ 20,000. Hence, its nominal yield is 4% (800 / 20,000).
Factors Affecting Nominal Yield
Please find below the most important factors that affect nominal yield:
a) Inflation: We all know that inflation affects the purchasing power of money. Hence, the higher the inflation, the higher the nominal yield expected by investors. Conversely, the lower the inflation, the lower the nominal yield investors expect.
b) Creditworthiness of the issuer: Credit rating agencies, like CRISIL, Fitch, and ICRA, assess the creditworthiness of bond issuers. Creditworthiness means the ability of a bond issuer to pay interest and principal due on time. If an issuer has a high creditworthiness, it means that he can pay his obligations on time. Hence, he should be able to issue bonds at lower interest rates than an issuer with a low creditworthiness.
c) Coupon rate: As already discussed, a bond’s coupon rate is the annual interest payable on it by its issuer. Nominal yield is calculated by dividing the annual coupon payment on a bond by its face value. Hence, the coupon rate affects the nominal yield of a bond.
d) Maturity of a bond: Typically, the higher the term of a bond, the higher its nominal yield, and vice versa. This is because when a bondholder invests in a bond for a long time, he takes more risk, as his money will remain with the issuer for a long period of time.
e) Market rates in an economy: When interest rates increase in an economy, newly issued bonds usually offer higher yields than older bonds to become attractive for bondholders. Conversely, if interest rates decline in an economy, newly issued bonds typically offer lower yields than older bonds.
Nominal Yield vs. Current Yield
If you want to invest in a bond, you ought to know the difference between nominal yield and current yield. So, please refer to the table below:
Nominal Yield
| Current Yield
|
Nominal yield means the interest paid on a bond by its issuer to its holder.
| The yield earned on a bond by an investor when he buys it at its current price is its current yield.
|
Nominal yield can be calculated by using the following formula:
Annual Interest Payable on a Bond / Bond’s Face Value
| You should use this formula to calculate the current yield:
Annual Interest Payable on a Bond / Current Market Price of a Bond
|
Even when bond prices change in the market, the nominal yield does not change because it depends upon the face value of a bond, which remains the same until the bond’s maturity.
| The current yield of a bond changes as the current price of a bond changes in the market. Hence, it is a dynamic indicator.
|
Nominal yield is not a good indicator of the expected return on a bond because it is based on its coupon rate and par value, which do not change with market movements.
| Current yield is a better indicator of the expected return from a bond than nominal yield. This is because the current yield depends upon the current price of a bond.
|
Importance of Nominal Yield in Bond Investing
A bond’s nominal yield is one of the most important indicators for an investor. It tells him how much interest he will earn from a bond based on its par value. Hence, it goes a long way in helping an investor decide whether to invest in a bond or not.
Nominal yield is a function of a bond’s coupon rate (which is advertised by its issuer) and its face value. When an investor sees an issuer advertising a bond, he can assess how much interest he will earn annually by investing in the bond if he holds it till maturity.
Hence, nominal yield helps him plan his investments in the future. Besides, when an investor compares bonds with a different coupon rate and different face value, nominal yield comes in handy.
Additional Read - How do Bonds Work
Limitations of Nominal Yield
While nominal yield is an important metric for bond investors, it has certain limitations, which you should be aware of:
a) Does not reflect market conditions adequately: When a bond is issued, its nominal yield reflects market conditions. However, during the course of its term, as market conditions change, a bond’s nominal yield does not reflect such changes because it is not based on its current price. Instead, it is a function of a bond’s par value.
b) Does not consider inflation: Investors are more concerned about a bond’s real return than its nominal yield. While the real return on a bond considers inflation, its nominal yield does not take into account inflation. Hence, nominal yield does not tell you how inflation will affect your return.
c) Does not consider reinvestment of interest: For calculating nominal yield, it is assumed that the annual coupons paid by a bond are not reinvested by an investor. However, in reality, many bondholders choose to reinvest their coupon payments to get the benefits of compounding of interest. When an investor reinvests his annual coupon payments at the rate of nominal yield, his overall return is much higher than the nominal yield.
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