Bond type composition of the entire US bond market

Discuss all general (i.e. non-personal) investing questions and issues, investing news, and theory.
Post Reply
Topic Author
Money Market
Posts: 186
Joined: Thu Mar 16, 2017 10:36 am

Bond type composition of the entire US bond market

Post by Money Market »

The index that Vanguard Total Bond Index Fund (VBTLX) tracks an index that includes only treasuries, government agencies, and other investment-grade bonds, but excludes TIPS and junk bonds. I am wondering if there's a nice chart and index available that shows the actual total US bond market composition by type along with the percentages. I can't seem to find this specific information. The best I could find was from here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_mark ... arket_size

but it doesn't specifically break the information into a more granular form to include types such as TIPs or junk.
VTSAX and chill.
User avatar
abuss368
Posts: 27850
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:33 pm
Location: Where the water is warm, the drinks are cold, and I don't know the names of the players!
Contact:

Re: Bond type composition of the entire US bond market

Post by abuss368 »

Did you by chance check the Bogleheads wiki? That is usually a good point of reference.
John C. Bogle: “Simplicity is the master key to financial success."
User avatar
siamond
Posts: 6008
Joined: Mon May 28, 2012 5:50 am

Re: Bond type composition of the entire US bond market

Post by siamond »

User avatar
patrick013
Posts: 3301
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2015 7:49 pm

Re: Bond type composition of the entire US bond market

Post by patrick013 »

Outstanding U.S. Bond Market Debt :

SIFMA
age in bonds, buy-and-hold, 10 year business cycle
Topic Author
Money Market
Posts: 186
Joined: Thu Mar 16, 2017 10:36 am

Re: Bond type composition of the entire US bond market

Post by Money Market »

siamond wrote:Maybe this would help?
http://learnbonds.com/93027/how-big-is-the-bond-market/
Great, exactly what I was looking for
VTSAX and chill.
User avatar
Tyler Aspect
Posts: 1620
Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2017 10:27 pm
Location: California
Contact:

Re: Bond type composition of the entire US bond market

Post by Tyler Aspect »

Here is a source of information from Vanguard.

https://advisors.vanguard.com/VGApp/iip ... ation/bond
Past result does not predict future performance. Mentioned investments may lose money. Contents are presented "AS IS" and any implied suitability for a particular purpose are disclaimed.
User avatar
nisiprius
Advisory Board
Posts: 52215
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:33 am
Location: The terrestrial, globular, planetary hunk of matter, flattened at the poles, is my abode.--O. Henry

Re: Bond type composition of the entire US bond market

Post by nisiprius »

"The entire U.S. bond market" is tricky because there isn't any single unified bond exchange (or tightly-linked group of bond exchanges).

The Bloomberg Barclay's U.S. Universal index is supposed to be a truly total bond market index. There's at least one ETF that indexes to it, IUSB. They used to have a factsheet for the index that showed very clearly the relationship, but currently Bloomberg and/or Barclay's are somewhat messed up and I can't find it. A lot of information about the comparison can be found in this Morningstar article, A More Inclusive U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, notably this chart:
Image
"only 8% of the Universal Index's market cap comprises bonds with below-investment-grade credit ratings."

Comparing IUSB with Total Bond, there's been some difference during the three years IUSB has existed, but not much.

Source
Image

It's my personal belief that complaints about Total Bond Market Index Fund not being "total" are legitimate in terms of marketing--they shouldn't have used the word "total"--but apart from that, a lot of it is like complaints about the S&P 500 index--an indirect way of attacking indexing itself. For example, opinions can differ but personally, I want my own bond investments to be in investment-grade bonds. I think it's completely appropriate for a core bond fund like Total Bond to track an index of investment-grade bonds, and let those who want junk bonds add a separate allocation to VWEHX.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
User avatar
nisiprius
Advisory Board
Posts: 52215
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:33 am
Location: The terrestrial, globular, planetary hunk of matter, flattened at the poles, is my abode.--O. Henry

Re: Bond type composition of the entire US bond market

Post by nisiprius »

P.S. The last time I looked, to the best of my memory, United States Savings Bonds constituted a full 1% of all Treasury debt. However, because they are non-marketable securities, they are not included in any index or any mutual fund. I don't know what a purist ought to do about that.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
inbox788
Posts: 8372
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2012 5:24 pm

Re: Bond type composition of the entire US bond market

Post by inbox788 »

Great information. Is there any similar market share data on who holds the bonds and what bond companies it's being held at? I thought PIMCO was one of the biggest bond dealers/brokerages, but they only have about $1.5T AUM. I've located AUM lists that include Fidelity, Vanguard, Blackrock, and others, but I think they all mix up stocks with bonds. I'm trying to get just the bond holdings if it's broken out.

For example, here's a general breakdown of who owns the stock market, though more specificity is still desired (i.e. types of individuals like high networth individuals vs. retired teaches, etc. or companies like BRK or AABA -- those are in turn owned by others)
http://www.businessinsider.com/who-actu ... ket-2016-5

FYI, the biggest funds like Pimco's Total Return fund and Vanguard Total Bond Market are over $100B, yet only a fraction of all bonds.
http://money.cnn.com/2015/05/04/investi ... index.html
Post Reply