Fixed Income - Risks

Risks

Fixed income securities have risks that may include but are not limited to the following, many of which are synonymous, mutually exclusive, or related:

• inflation risk – that the buying power of the principal and interest payments will decline during the term of the security
• interest rate risk – that overall interest rates will change from the levels available when the security is sold, causing an opportunity cost
• currency risk – that exchange rates with other currencies will change during the security's term, causing loss of buying power in other countries
• default risk – that the issuer will be unable to pay the scheduled interest payments or principal repayment due to financial hardship or otherwise
• reinvestment risk – that the purchaser will be unable to purchase another security of similar return upon the expiration of the current security
• liquidity risk – that the buyer will require the principal funds for another purpose on short notice, prior to the expiration of the security, and be unable to exchange the security for cash in the required time period without loss of fair value
• duration risk
• convexity risk
• credit quality risk
• political risk – that governmental actions will cause the owner to lose the benefits of the security
• tax adjustment risk
• market risk – the risk of market-wide changes affecting the value of the security
• event risk – the risk that externalities will cause the owner to lose the benefits of the security