John Husselbee: Why hold negative-yielding bonds?

$17trn of debt is now 'paying' a negative yield

John Husselbee expects demand for government bonds to continue even if negative yields persist. Here, Liontrust's head of multi-asset explains why the asset class still plays a vital role in any properly diversified multi-asset proposition.

There has been growing chatter over recent weeks and months about negative-yielding bonds and the figures are stark: more than $17trn of debt is now 'paying' a negative yield, more than a quarter of the entire global fixed income stock. Before looking at the ramifications of negative yields, a quick explainer of what they actually mean. In the first place, investors will not have to physically pay for lending money to a government or company, rather than receiving the interest expected from a bond. Bund investors will not have to trot to European Central bank twice a year to hand o...