Federal loans are debt securities issued by the government. Russian Federation represented by the Ministry of Finance. They are considered the most reliable instrument in the Russian financial market: the OFZ interest rate is often used as a risk-free one. Anyone can become the owner of securities - physical and legal entities, Russian and foreign citizens.

Advantages of investing in OFZs

• Reliability. Since the issuer is the state itself, federal loan bonds are considered an example of risk-free assets among Russian financial instruments.
• Potentially high liquidity. Bonds government loan always in price, so they are easy to sell if necessary. By the way, the accumulated income is not lost when selling bonds.
• Wide choice of repayment terms. Some OFZs are repaid in a few months, others in years or even decades.
• Diversity by income type. Russian OFZs are divided into several varieties based on the type of coupon payment and par value. This allows you to choose the appropriate type of bonds, focusing on your own strategy and the current economic situation.
• Tax benefits. If the investor is an individual, the coupon income on federal loan bonds is not taxed, and in some issues it significantly exceeds the rates of corporate bonds and deposits.
• Low entry threshold. The price of one federal loan bond is usually about a thousand rubles.

Features of OFZ

One of the key features of government bonds is issuance in documentary form with mandatory centralized storage. Each issue is confirmed by certificates that are stored in the Ministry of Finance and the depository.

The general agent for repurchase, exchange, storage and servicing of government bond issues is central bank Russia. This means that OFZs are not issued in paper form, “in hand”. They are listed as the owner in the Central Bank register in the form of electronic numbers.

The cost of federal loan bonds consists of two components:

1. Denomination. The vast majority of bonds have a par value of 1,000 rubles. The cost of purchasing one OFZ is a certain percentage of the nominal value. For example, 95% - if the bond price is lower than the face value, 100% - if equal, 105% - if higher. Prices depend on various market factors.
2. Accumulated coupon income. Most often this figure is fixed, but there are OFZs with a floating coupon. Coupon income is accrued daily, payments are made several times a year.

Types of OFZ

Depending on the maturity of the debt, federal loan bonds are long-term, medium-term and short-term.

In addition, OFZs differ in the method of coupon payment and face value. Based on the type of coupon payments, there are three types of bonds:

1. With a permanent coupon (OFZ-PD). This means that the coupon value is constant throughout the entire circulation period of the security. The coupon is paid every six months.
2. With fixed coupon income (OFZ-FD). In this case, the value of the coupon may change, but it is known in advance exactly how. For example, the first couple of years the coupon income is 7% of the face value, in subsequent years - 6%. An example of this is amortization bonds.
3. With a variable coupon (OFZ-PK). This means that the coupon is tied to a floating interest rate (for example, RUONIA - rates on overnight interbank loans from the 28 largest banks) or official inflation. For OFZ-PK, only the current coupon is known, and each subsequent coupon is calculated depending on the average value of RUONIA over the last six months. Therefore, when rates on the money market rise, the OFZ-PK coupon yield also increases, and vice versa.

There are two types of bonds at par:

1. With nominal depreciation (OFZ-AD). This means that the denomination is not repaid immediately, but gradually - in parts. Moreover, the repayment schedule is determined in advance: at equal intervals or with breaks, in equal or unequal parts.
2. With nominal indexation (OFZ-IN). Recalculation occurs every day, information about the current and future denomination is published on the website of the Ministry of Finance a month in advance. The publication date is at least two working days before the start of the new month.

Federal loan bond yield

The income on OFZ government bonds consists of two components: coupon income and income from sale/redemption. Today, the yield on bonds is about 8-12% per annum.

The profitability of the last transaction may differ from the current one, so it is better to clarify this parameter in the order book of the information and trading system (for example, ITS QUIK). It should also be remembered that for OFZ-PK the yield is calculated not at the time of maturity, but on the date of payment of the last known coupon. Some investors calculate the yield of OFZs using a special program - a bond calculator.

Government bonds are taxed at 13%. It is charged on the difference between the cost of purchase and sale (redemption) of OFZ. Moreover, in addition to the cost of the bond itself, the purchase and sale prices include the accumulated coupon income (ACI) you paid or received and the costs of the transaction. In this case, income from the coupon is not taxed and, accordingly, does not take part in the calculation of the financial result.

How to invest in OFZs?

Federal loan bonds are sold and purchased on the Moscow Exchange. But individual will not be able to buy OFZ directly: all activities of private investors on the exchange are carried out through intermediaries - brokers. Therefore, the first thing to do is to choose brokerage company and conclude an agreement with her.

1. Open a brokerage or individual investment account (IIA). This can be done online by filling out an application on the Otkritie Broker website.

2. Install on your personal computer special program- trading terminal (for example, the same QUIK).

3. Top up your account. You don't have to put it on it right away huge sums: the price of one bond is approximately 1000 rubles.

4. Prepare for purchase. It will be more convenient to work with securities if you create a current table of parameters in the trading terminal and add the “T+Bonds” class to it. A visual table is needed in order to immediately evaluate such important parameters as the current denomination, the number of days until the maturity date, bid and ask prices, the number and volume of transactions, and coupon data.

5. Buy OFZ. To do this, you need to open the trading order book in the terminal and click on the desired purchase price in the green sector (sale prices are shown in red). Remember that the prices of government bonds are displayed as a percentage of the face value: for example, a price of 97.20% means that with a face value of 1000 rubles, the cost of OFZ is only 972. In the application window, you can set the desired price and number of bonds.

When all the data is filled in, the program will show how much you need to pay for the bond, taking into account the income tax and commission. To buy a federal loan bond, you need to click the “Yes” button. You can sell a bond in a similar way.

After purchasing the bond, the par value and coupon income will be transferred to the investor's personal account - brokerage or bank. Those who plan to buy OFZs into an individual investment account (IIA) and spend the income from the coupon need to warn the broker so that he transfers the coupons to a bank account - you cannot withdraw money from the IIA without closing it.

Federal loan bonds (OFZ) is one of the types of securities in Russia, which is issued by the Ministry of Finance. In fact, they have a standard format; their only peculiarity is that the reliability of the papers is ensured by the state itself.

What is the essence of federal loan bonds?

In essence, by buying OFZ, you are lending money to the state for a certain period. With an OFZ, you will receive coupon income (usually every six months) throughout the life of the bond. Upon expiration, you will be returned the original cost of the bond itself.

Types of OFZ

Federal loan bonds are divided into several types according to the type of coupon payment and par value.

According to the type of coupon payments, government bonds are divided into:

• OFZ-PD - with constant coupon income

The coupon value of these securities is constant throughout the entire circulation period of the bond. The coupon payment frequency is once every six months.

• OFZ-FD - with a fixed coupon

The amount of coupon payments may change over time, but is known in advance. For example, the first few years the coupon income may be set at 7% of the face value, and the next few years at 6%.

• OFZ-PK - with variable coupon income

The coupons of such bonds are tied to some floating interest rate, for example RUONIA (the rate on overnight interbank loans of the 28 largest banks) or the official one. The coupon yield is calculated as the RUONIA rate + some interest rate, for example 0.74%. Therefore, for such bonds only the current coupon is known, and each subsequent coupon is calculated based on the average RUONIA value for the last 6 months.

Thus, if rates on the money market rise, then the OFZ-PK coupon yield also rises, rates fall - and the yield also falls.

Based on their face value, government bonds are divided into two types:

• OFZ-AD - with nominal depreciation

For securities of this type, the nominal value is not repaid at one time, but gradually in parts. The depreciation schedule is known in advance. The denomination can be repaid at regular intervals, but there may be breaks. The nominal value can be repaid either in equal or unequal parts.

• OFZ-IN - with nominal indexation

Now on the market you can buy two issues of securities of this type: OFZ 52001-IN with a maturity date of August 16, 2023 and OFZ 51001 with a maturity date of March 31, 2021. These are bonds with a par value indexed to consumer inflation. The coupon yield of OFZ 52001-IN is 2.5% of the par value, OFZ 51001 is 2.25%, the coupon payment period is once every six months.

The denomination is indexed daily. Data on current and future denominations are published on the Ministry of Finance website a month in advance at least 2 working days before the start of the month. There you can also find out the value of the current coupon. Initially, these bonds were issued with a face value of 1000 rubles, now it is equal to 1040.4 rubles. Coupon income and income from indexation are not taxed.

Thus, OFZ 52001-IN gives a 2.5% net return above inflation. This instrument becomes especially beneficial in conditions of rising inflation and increased interest rates when regular bonds fall in price.

How is the OFZ rate calculated?

OFZ market rates are either constant or variable. Constant or fixed rates are established for each coupon period of each individual issue. Variable rate is formed taking into account official data characterizing the level of inflation. The OFZ rate depends largely on the key rate.

What is the yield on federal bonds?

The yield on OFZ is formed from two parts:

• The income that the owner of a Russian federal loan bond receives from the coupon;
• Profit from purchasing a coupon at a price lower than its nominal value.

If a bond is purchased at a price higher than the nominal price, without taking into account the coupon income, this leads to a loss, because its repayment is carried out strictly at the nominal value.

In the process of OFZ circulation, coupon profit is accumulated. As the next coupon becomes due, the bond's value increases. An investor who resells a bond before the coupon payment must take into account the accumulated payments on the security. The cost of purchasing bonds is constantly within the par range. The exact price is determined by market conditions, which can be either higher or lower than the cost of the bond.

When working with OFZs, you need to take into account the specifics of taxation of this type of income. Each type of income OFZ is subject to taxes. For example, for the income received from the difference between the purchase and sale of a bond, you will have to pay about 35% . Net coupon income is taxed at 15% of the amount received.

It is extremely important to take these points into account in order for manipulations in the bond market to bring good profits. Any activity in this segment is regulated by law.

What is the advantage of OFZ over other securities?

Investments in bonds are one of the most reliable types. When compared with bank deposits, the level of reliability of OFZs is higher. The reliability of bank deposits directly depends on the bank's rating. There is a direct relationship here: the higher the reliability of the bank, the higher the reliability of the safety of deposits. But there is also a significant disadvantage. A high reliability rating comes at the cost of lower interest rates. If we analyze the offers from the largest Russian banks (Sberbank, VTB and others), we see that their bank deposit rates are the lowest. The difference can be 50-80% than the average for this sector.

The state is the guarantor of the OFZ payment. And accordingly, the state reliability rating. bonds is equal to the credit rating of the state itself. It is responsible for its obligations to state holders. debt.

If the state ceases to be responsible for its obligations, then this happens. But the probability of a default in the country is much lower than the default of any private company.

Higher in reliability are only bonds of foreign issuers. But they usually have lower returns.

Where are they traded and who can buy OFZs?

OFZs are traded on the Moscow Exchange and can be purchased through any broker. Buyers and holders of OFZ can be both Russian and foreign legal entities and individuals. The cost of one bond is 1000 rubles, the yield is in rubles.

The procedure for purchasing OFZs is no more complicated than opening a bank deposit. All you need is to choose a broker, enter into an agreement with him and purchase OFZ. Also, many major banks provide similar services. You can also get advice from them, depending on your goals, which bonds you can buy at the moment.

Eat small amount for investment - around 300 thousand rubles. Every month I can replenish this amount by about 20 thousand. The investment period is 5-6 years. I am considering OFZ as one of the options.

I heard that if relations between the United States and Russia worsen, further sanctions may affect OFZs. So far, the United States has not imposed sanctions against Russia’s national debt, but news about this comes up periodically. If this does happen, what might happen to the bonds purchased?

Andrey, OFZ is one of the most reliable ways to invest money. Even in the event of sanctions against Russian government debt, it is unlikely that anything bad will happen to your investments. I’ll explain why OFZ can be trusted, but first let me remind you what it is.

Evgeny Shepelev

private investor

What is OFZ

We wrote in detail about OFZs in our article, so I’ll tell you briefly.

The government always needs money, and one way to get it is to borrow by issuing federal loan bonds. Investors buy OFZs and receive coupon income (interest) from the Ministry of Finance, and then the face value of the bonds is returned to them.

Types of OFZ

Bonds have different maturity dates and different yields. In addition, they differ in the type of coupons.

With a permanent coupon (OFZ-PD). This is the most popular type of bond. The size of all coupons is known in advance and does not change until redeemed. Example - OFZ 26205.

With a fixed coupon (OFZ-FD). The size of all coupons is also known in advance, but may change. For example, in the first year of circulation the coupon may be 7%, the next year - 8%. Example - OFZ 46011.

With a variable coupon (OFZ-PK). The coupon changes over time and depends on the RUONIA rate - it will not be possible to calculate the yield to maturity in advance. Example - OFZ 29012.

Not all bonds have a constant par value. For OFZ-AD it is amortized - repaid in installments, and for OFZ-IN the nominal value is indexed in accordance with inflation.

Profitability and risks of OFZ

The yield on OFZs is usually at the level or slightly higher than that of bank deposits. For example, OFZ 26214, which will be repaid in May 2020, has an effective yield to maturity of approximately 7.3% per annum. Typically, the longer the time until maturity, the higher the OFZ yield.

You can earn more if - 13% of the amount invested in IIS, but not more than 52,000 R per year.

The solvency of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation now raises no questions among anyone. However, there are fears that the United States will impose sanctions against Russian government debt and this will somehow affect investors holding OFZs.

If you want to receive passive income from bonds, pay attention to the coupon payment dates. For monthly income, you will need to have at least six different OFZs in your portfolio, since the coupon is paid every six months. For example, OFZ 26212 coupons arrive in January and July, OFZ 26215 in February and August, etc.

In summary: pros and cons

Investing money in OFZs through a Russian broker is a completely safe investment option. Even if the United States imposes sanctions against Russian government debt, OFZs will not disappear, coupons for them will be credited to your account, and the nominal value will be repaid on time.

Of the minuses, of course, the profitability is not much higher than on deposits. If your investment horizon is 5-6 years and you have the ability to deposit money regularly, consider also joining investment portfolio a small volume of stocks or, better yet, stock indices. Over the long term, the return potential of stocks is higher than that of bonds. True, the risks are greater.

If you have a question about personal finance, luxury purchases or family budget, write: [email protected]. We will answer the most interesting questions in the magazine.

Many have heard that the Ministry of Finance issued “people’s” bonds in 2017. This is the OFZ for the population (OFZ-N). Thus, the authorities want to attract citizens to invest in financial markets. Main question, which everyone cares about is whether to lend to the state.

History shows that the state has sometimes failed to fulfill its obligations to the population. But the economy of 2017, the economy of 1982 and the economy of 1998 are completely different economies. Even more, these are different states. The Russian budget for 2017-19 allows the government to service loans without problems.

Now let's talk about how an investor can benefit from this.

First, let's figure out what it is. Any citizen of the Russian Federation who is over 18 years old can at any time independently lend their money to their own state by purchasing such securities with it.

Whether it's a bank or an investment company. To do this, just open an account online without leaving your home. The choice for purchase is quite wide; there are several dozen OFZ issues circulating on the market, of which bonds with a short term (from 1 to 3 or 5 years) are in greatest demand among private investors.

Today, ordinary government bonds give on average 1-2% higher returns on deposits. Such investments are more profitable than savings in a state bank. And the most interesting thing is that you do not pay tax on OFZ coupon income.

What is important to know about regular OFZs?

1. You can sell a regular OFZ at any time. Let's say for some reason you change your mind about holding them until the maturity date and want to sell them after three months.
2. When selling, you in any case receive the accumulated coupon income for the period of ownership of the securities.

The main advantage of purchasing ordinary OFZs is the safety of investments. If you purchase an OFZ, you deal directly with the state, which guarantees you a return of the entire amount invested. In comparison with ordinary deposits in banks, this is an analogue of guarantees from the state deposit insurance agency, which compensates for losses up to 1.4 million rubles. As you can see, both types of investments have the same level of risk, because in both cases the state acts as a guarantor. But the amount of guarantees in the case of OFZ is not limited.

So, we have learned that a regular OFZ is a convenient tool that gives the investor a good, reliable and stable income. An interesting opportunity, isn't it?

Now comes the fun part. Let's compare a regular OFZ with a new instrument, the so-called people's OFZ. Let's look at the features, differences and advantages of each tool.

Where can I buy

People's OFZs are distributed only through state banks (VTB and Sberbank) and it will not be possible to sell them to anyone other than the state bank. If you do not have an account or online access to a state bank, then you will have to go to its branch and sign the necessary documents.

In contrast, ordinary OFZs are traded on the market. They can be bought and sold at any time through a broker using a brokerage account or. However, for people who are not familiar with trading on the stock exchange, the entire procedure for purchasing bonds will result in the study of a considerable number of specific issues.

And here, as intended, the acquisition process from OFZ-N is as simple as possible.

Circulation period and denomination

The circulation period of OFZ-N is three years. The face value of one such bond is one thousand rubles. This is perhaps the only similarity between government securities of the new format and ordinary OFZs. If you want to become the owner of OFZ-N bonds, then you personally must buy securities for at least thirty thousand rubles. You can purchase a maximum of up to 15 million rubles of such bonds in one issue.

While on stock market various issues of government bonds are presented, with different maturities (from several months to thirty years). In the stock market, the entry threshold may be approximately the same. You need to deposit a certain minimum amount when opening a brokerage account. In the case of IIS, there is no minimum amount, and accordingly, the entry threshold is 1000 rubles. Maximum amount also not limited.

OFZ-N yield

The stated profitability of public securities will increase depending on the period of their holding. The longer you own securities, the higher their profitability will be. The coupon income increases from 7.5% in the first year of ownership to 10.4% during the third year. As a result, the average return over three years of holding the security will be about 8.5%. But there is an important feature. The coupon income can only be obtained by holding the securities for more than a year. In other words, by selling government bonds during the first year of ownership, you will not receive anything, and even lose a little (1 - 3% commission, depending on the amount of investment). The coupon will go to the bank agent.

The yield on ordinary OFZs is on average 1-2% higher than the yield on deposits. whether you hold the bonds until maturity or sell them early. There is a difference, isn't there?

Another similarity with OFZ is the calculation of accumulated coupon income. That is, by selling people's bonds you receive part of the coupon amount in proportion to the number of days of ownership. But only after the first year of ownership.

Also, in both cases, income is not subject to 13% tax.

Investor expenses

For you, as investors, there will of course be additional costs, which in the case of popular OFZs will include bank commissions, depository fees, and storage costs. As representatives of the Ministry of Finance explain, when purchasing national OFZs for an amount of 300,000 rubles or more, the commission will be about 0.5%, for an amount of 50 thousand rubles or more. the commission will be 1%. And for a smaller purchase amount 1.5%. The same amount of commission will have to be paid if they are sold early. Therefore, your total expenses can reach from one to three percent.

Let us remind you that commissions in the brokerage business are now close to zero. This means a commission close to zero when purchasing regular OFZs. What can be a decisive factor in choosing an investment instrument.

The costs of purchasing both public and ordinary securities increase after their placement. Since the buyer pays the previous owner the amount of accumulated coupon income.

Results

What do we end up with? The Ministry of Finance offered us people's bonds, which are actually a surrogate for ordinary OFZs. Such a surrogate puts investors in unequal conditions with professional participants in the securities market. So, for example, in the first year of ownership, public securities do not work, that is, they do not bring income to the investor, unlike ordinary OFZs. And this can scare away potential buyers.

For those who don’t want to stand in line at the state bank to buy national OFZs, and then be afraid of losing income for a whole year, there is good news. A broker can open an individual investment account (IIA) for you without visiting a bank branch. And by purchasing regular OFZs using an IIS, you can receive an additional benefit from the state in the amount of 13% of the purchase amount, but not more than 52 thousand per year. This benefit is available thanks to tax deduction for the amount deposited into the IIS.

Well, for those who think that the stock exchange is too complicated, this tool has been developed: people's bonds. Happy investment.

These and other questions are discussed in this article.

Federal Loan Bond:

• it is a debt security, i.e. certifies the loan relationship
• the borrower is the state

How to lend to the state

To lend money to the state, you just need to document it. When we lend money to someone, we want to receive a receipt describing the borrower's obligations (terms, amount, interest).

So, when we lend to the state, such a receipt is called OFZ - Federal Loan Bond, and it is a security.

Many countries have government bonds, the most famous of which are US government bonds.

In the USA, depending on the period of circulation, they are called:

• Short-term Treasury bills (Bills)
• Intermediate Term Treasury Bonds, (Notes)
• Long-term Treasury bonds (Bonds)
• Treasury Inflation Protected Bonds (TIPS)

Such bonds exist in every country in the world. They may be called differently, but the essence is the same - the state borrows a certain amount and undertakes to pay interest on it and repay the amount of debt within a certain period in a specified amount.

So, in order to lend to the state, you just need to purchase such a bond.

Repayment (loan repayment)

When the borrower (the state) gives us back the body of the debt, he will take this bond back from us, just as an individual takes a promissory note back after returning the debt. It is called bond redemption.

Interest payments

The borrower will pay us periodically interest for using the loan. Usually this is 2 times a year. The interest rate can be set at the time of OFZ issuance (OFZ-PD) or determined before each payment (OFZ with a variable coupon, see below) based on any macroeconomic indicators (RUONIA rate).

The main characteristics of any loan can be considered:

• reliability
• profitability

Let us consider each of these characteristics of OFZ in more detail.

Reliability (Creditworthiness)

The reliability of the borrower is, as a rule, the first thing we evaluate when deciding whether to lend money to someone at interest, be it a bank or a neighbor.

When we choose a deposit in a bank, we are interested, first of all, in whether the borrower will repay us. In fact, what is the use of super-profitability if neither it nor even the original amount can be seen again?

In everyday life, we carry out the process of choosing reliable borrowers intuitively: we do not lend money to unfamiliar people or people whose solvency in the future we doubt.

But if you constantly lend, and the choice of options “to whom to lend” is large, then you need an objective and understandable system for selecting and evaluating certain investment options.

Humanity has long come up with many systems for assessing borrowers, and called the ability to repay debts the term “Creditworthiness”.

For example, when we go to a bank for a loan, the bank carefully collects information about us to determine our creditworthiness. In this case, the bank evaluates our salary, marital status, age, living conditions, the presence of other outstanding loans, etc. The bank needs this in order to assess the reliability of the loan.

And vice versa, when we take money to a bank, we are interested in its reliability and ability in the future to return to us our money deposited in a bank deposit.

Creditworthiness- this is a characteristic of the borrower, formed on the basis of an analysis of its activities, etc., allowing one to assess its ability to fulfill its obligations in the future debentures completely and on time.

To make life easier, there are numerous credit ratings, which are created by rating agencies according to their own methods.

1. Standard & Poor's
2. Moody's
3. Fitch Ratings

Each of them has its own methodology, and not only enterprises and businesses, but also entire states are assessed. The state, as a borrower, may have its own credit rating.

• long-term credit rating of Russia for obligations in foreign currency– “BB+” (outlook – “positive”)

• The credit rating of the Russian Federation for obligations denominated in foreign currency is “Ba1” (outlook is “stable”)

• long-term credit rating of the Russian Federation, expressed in foreign currency – “BBB-” (outlook – “stable”)

What are they needed for?

• They give investors around the world an idea of ​​the reliability of investing money in a particular company or country.
• Companies and countries need a credit rating in order to increase investor confidence and increase their profits.

How does a change in rating affect the borrower?

The legislation of many countries (USA, etc.) may directly prohibit providing loans (buying their securities) to entities with a low credit rating. Thus, without having a certain rating, you can generally be left without investments from international investors, “long-term money”.

The higher the credit rating, the more profitable it is for the borrower, because a high reliability rating allows you to borrow money at lower interest rates. This is very important for business, because... directly affects the amount of net profit, because the cost of servicing loans is a significant part of the expenses of any large company.

Servicing a loan (paying interest on it) can take up more than half of all business expenses, so reducing the cost of a loan even by tenths of a percent leads to an increase in profits by tens of percent.

A country's rating affects everyone

This means that no business, even the best one, within the country can be more reliable than the state itself, in whose jurisdiction such a business is located.

Of course, there is an iron logic in this: if the entire economy of the country becomes bad, then this will affect all participants in economic activity, and if an individual business becomes bad, then the economy of the entire country is unlikely to suffer much from this.

But the most important reason for the high creditworthiness of the state is that... the state has a printing press!

Unlike any corporation or business within a country, the state always has the ability to create money almost out of thin air at any time, simply by printing it.

Of course, this is also not good news for any lender. What good is it if the borrower fulfills his obligations to us and returns the money he borrowed, but by that time it will already have a completely different purchasing power?

That's true, but companies and businesses don't even have that opportunity. That is why the reliability of even the best business in the Russian Federation cannot be higher than the reliability of the state.

The ability of a company, for example, Sberbank or Gazprom, to repay its debts cannot exceed the ability of the state.

You can easily verify this by checking the credit ratings of Gazprom and Sberbank from international agencies: they are not higher (and cannot be higher) than the ratings of the Russian Federation given above:

What can be concluded from all this? Within a single country, state debt is the safest. The reliability of a deposit in Sberbank cannot be higher than the reliability of OFZ.

OFZ is an opportunity to invest your money with the highest possible reliability within our country, and this is the most important factor characterizing this type of securities.

An IIS investor, especially one who has no experience working with securities, is recommended to start working with this type of securities; fortunately, it can be much more convenient and profitable than bank deposits, and taking into account tax benefit can give a risk-free return of up to 21% in the first year of owning an IIS.

Role and status of OFZ

"Internationality"

OFZs are often an asset that is bought by international investors and funds. Thus, OFZs are obligations not only to domestic investors, but also to external ones.

Liquid collateral

OFZs throughout the Russian Federation act as a liquid means of ensuring the fulfillment of obligations, i.e. collateral. At the same time, the discount when valuing OFZs is minimal compared to other types of assets.

Anyone who has ever tried to take out a loan secured by any property knows well how “unfairly” the collateral is valued - sometimes at 20-30% of its market value. OFZs used as collateral are often valued at 95% of market value or more!

So, for example, if you have an open IIS with connected marginal lending, you can receive a loan in the amount of 100% of the value of the OFZ, with just a few clicks of the mouse (the list of specific OFZ issues for which a loan is issued must be checked with a specific broker).

Standard for comparison

The interest rate of return on OFZ is a guideline and the foundation on which numerous economic calculations are built.

For example, if the OFZ yield is now +8.5% per annum, then it is stupid to start a business with a profitability less than this level. Thus, the OFZ yield is the standard of ALTERNATIVE yield, which can be contrasted with any business endeavor and investment.

OFZ yield

At the time these lines are being written, the OFZ yield is about +8.5% per annum. This is not much, but still more than the return on a deposit with Sberbank (about +7% per annum).

Even though there are bank deposits with rates up to +11% per annum, OFZ even in this case... will ultimately turn out to be more profitable. Why? We will talk about this in the article “OFZ or bank deposit.”

What types of OFZ are there?

• OFZ-PD (with permanent income) - the simplest and most understandable type of OFZ. The coupon size is fixed and known in advance, paid 2-3 times a year. It is recommended to start mastering OFZs with this type of OFZ
• OFZ-PK (with variable coupon)— The size of the coupon is unknown in advance, but is determined on the basis of some macroeconomic indicator, for example, the RUONIA rate (the rate at which banks lend to each other on the interbank market). It is impossible to calculate the profitability of such an instrument, because The coupon size is constantly recalculated.
• OFZ-AD (with debt amortization)- periodic repayment of the principal amount of the debt. This means that the par value of the bond is repaid in installments.
• OFZ-IN (with indexed denomination)— The nominal value of bonds is indexed monthly for the coming month in accordance with the consumer price index for goods and services in the Russian Federation.

Which OFZ to buy on IIS

As you can see, you can get confused in the types of OFZ. Which OFZs should a beginner or a person who is just starting to understand investing in securities buy on an IIS?

This topic will be discussed in more detail in the article ““, but the general theses can be formulated as follows:

• We need to buy OFZs with a constant coupon if we have just begun to understand bonds
• We need to buy OFZs with a constant coupon if we expect a reduction in inflation and a reduction in interest rates in the future (on deposits in banks, etc.)
• We need to buy OFZ with a variable coupon if we expect in the future (during the period of investment in this security) increase in inflation, the level of deposit rates.
• You need to buy OFZ with a maturity of up to 3 years (since the IIS agreement is concluded for a period of 3 years).

Here is a list of such OFZs subject to these requirements as of March 2017:

The yield on OFZ with a variable coupon is indicated as a guide, as of today. It will change in the future!

As you can see, the choice is small, and this is even good, because... simplifies the task of choosing OFZ for IIS.