Extending credit

Bond investors have been screaming out for an investment tool that allows them to trade the market as and when they want, just like equity investors can. Their prayers seem to have been answered by the launch of exchange-traded bond funds. Hardeep Dhillon reports

Imagine being able to purchase a basket of bonds with the same ease as buying a company’s shares. Thanks to exchange-traded funds – funds that allow investors, both institutional and retail, to buy the fixed-income market, or portions of it, in one transaction index – fund managers can now do so.

Launched last year, ETFs aim to promote active management of fixed-income parts of the portfolio. They are bought and sold like shares on a stock exchange and are designed to track the