Fixed income investments

i'm currently working in a role where i focus on fundamental credit research (provide coverage on issuers and assign internal ratings) at a financial institution. However, my role lacks any focus on the value of the debt securities and whether these securities would be a good investment.

I like my job, but i would like to move to fixed income research at a buyside firm and was hoping that someone can share a little on their investment thesis for bonds. For instance, why is a particular bond perceived to be undervalued and will make a great investment? 

Would be awesome to get some recommendations on resources to understand more about fixed income investing as well!

10 Comments
 
Most Helpful

If you are working at a long-only bond shop, whether investment grade or high yield, the end game is be beating the index by overweighting/underweighting names. So, you want to find bonds that are undervalued (and will outperform) to the index to and sell names that are overvalued (and will underperform). If you are looking at an investment grade bond, it might go like this: "This BBB- rated name trades at +200 basis points over Treasuries which is wide relative to the index at +150. I think it is an above-average quality credit and will get upgraded to BBB+ in the next 18 months as its pays down debt. If this happens, the bonds could tighten to +130 over."

That goes off of spread to Treasuries but you could replace that with yields or bond prices (more common in high yield). Bond math for the above:

10yr Treasury yield = 0.75% +200bp spread = 2.75% yield on a 10yr corporate bond. If we assume it has 5 years of duration and the spread tightens to +130bps, that implies 70 basis points of tightening, which multiples by 5yrs of duration = 3.5% capital appreciation on the bonds.

 

Expedita est repellendus enim nihil voluptas itaque. Quam molestiae quae autem. Fugit aut quas voluptatem non dolores ut in porro. Eligendi natus aut rerum quaerat et perferendis animi. Ea hic quas ut dolor quis qui ab. Et cumque reprehenderit quam excepturi aut sint nesciunt. Voluptate qui et enim repellendus.

Rerum doloribus et eligendi sapiente ipsam magnam. Esse eius doloremque quia possimus suscipit. Sed ut nulla adipisci est quia id. Voluptatem accusantium enim sint ex non.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”