译者 王为

文中黑字局部为原文，蓝字局部为译文，红字局部为译者正文或者弥补阐明

Why Invest in International Bonds?

By Kathy A Jones

No matter what kind of bond you own, its price and yield are going to be influenced by a number of risk factors—the direction of interest rates, inflation expectations and the credit of the issuer being the most prominent among them. When you invest in international bonds, you add another level of risk ste妹妹ing from currency markets, economic growth and monetary policy in the issuing country.

不论投资者持有的是何种债券，其价钱以及收益率程度城市遭到一些危害要素的影响，此中最关头的是利率走向、通胀预期和刊行人的信誉情况。假如投资的是本国债券市场，投资者还将碰到来自觉行人地点国度汇率市场、经济增加情况和货泉政策等其余层面的危害。

One might ask: Why bother with foreign bonds at all? After all, the U.S. economy seems to be in better shape than many other economies. In addition, yields on U.S. bonds may be low, but at least they’re not negative, as has been the case in some developed markets in recent years.

能够有人会问：为何要为美国之外的债券市场而费神吃力？究竟结果，美国经济看下来比其余很多国度要强，别的，美国债券市场的收益率程度大概是没有高，但至多比这多少年来一些兴旺国度债券收益率失落到零如下要强。

The simple answer is diversification. When you buy a foreign bond, you take on some exposure to a different economy and interest rates. And if a foreign bond is denominated in another currency, you stand to benefit if that currency rises against the dollar (though you also face the risk that a currency will weaken).

谜底很复杂：投资要多元化。假如买入一只本国债券，投资者就对于美国以外某个国度的经济情势及利率走势构成了敞口危害。假如本国债券之外币标价，投资者一定会正在这个非美圆货泉对于美圆汇率贬值的状况下获益，虽然也会碰着该货泉对于美圆的汇率升值的状况。

That’s why international bonds are one of the three building blocks of a diversified bond portfolio, the other two being core bonds and aggressive income assets (see “3 building blocks of your bond portfolio,” below). Schwab reco妹妹ends that investors hold up to 10% of their overall portfolio allocation in international bonds, depending on their risk tolerance.

这便是为何说本国债券是多元化债券投资组合的三个支柱之一的缘由了，其余两个是中心债券以及保守收益型债券（对于这三类债券的表明请见文章最初），咱们的倡议是投资者应依据本身的危害接受才能至多将债券投资组合的10%用于设置装备摆设本国债券。

Here we’ll look at how international bonds differ from U.S. bonds and some of the risks and other considerations for including international bonds in your fixed income portfolio.

上面咱们要看一下本国债券与美国债券之间都有哪些差别的地方和正在牢固收益投资组合中参加本国债券时招考虑的要素。

A tale of two bond types

两类债券有何差别？

The global bond market far surpasses the global stock market in terms of both size and complexity. This can pose a challenge to investors looking to build a globalized fixed income portfolio, so it makes sense to divide international bonds into two groups:

全世界债券市场正在范围总量以及庞大水平方面要远胜全世界股票市场一筹，这就对于追求修建全世界化牢固收益投资组合的投资者组成了应战，因而比拟好的做法是将本国债券分红两个年夜类：

• Developed market bondsinclude government and corporate bonds from more economically advanced countries, like Japan or the countries of Europe. While developed market bonds often have investment-grade credit ratings, the credit quality can vary.

  兴旺国度债券，比方日本或者欧洲列国等经济兴旺国度刊行的公债以及公司债， 但每一个兴旺国度的投资评级凡是也各没有相反；

• Emerging market bondsinclude securities from the developing world, such as China and other fast-growing economies in Asia, as well as some South American countries. These tend to be riskier than bonds from developed countries, which means that they may offer higher interest payments. But given their increased risk, most investors should consider limiting their exposure to them.

  新兴市场国度债券，比方中国以及其余经济疾速增加的开展中国度包含南美国度的债券。此类债券的危害常常比兴旺国度债券更高，象征着收益率也更高。但鉴于此类债券的危害正在回升，年夜少数投资者招考虑限定对于此类债券的危害敞口范围。

Currency effects

汇率动摇带来的影响

Foreign bond returns can be impacted by interest income, price changes and currency fluctuations. Interest income is usually positive, and because bonds offer fixed coupons—barring a default, of course—this part of a bond’s total return is predictable.

影响本国债券投资报答的要素有票息收益的巨细、价钱的变革和汇率的涨跌。票息收益一般为正的现金流，由于债券的票息一般为牢固的，固然除了非发作守约的状况，因而债券投资总收益中的这一局部是可猜测的。

Price and currency changes are less predictable and can vary depending on the market. Price changes depend on the direction of interest rates in the country where the bond is issued. Generally, when rates go up, bond prices fall, and vice versa.

价钱变革和汇率涨跌这两局部很难猜测，其收益跟着行情的动摇而变革。价钱变革取决于债券刊行人地点国利率的走势，普通来说，假如利率程度降低，债券价钱会上涨；反之亦然。

Currency swings affect the value of interest payments and also amplify price changes, so they can have an outsized impact on returns (see “Components of return,” below). For example, if you owned a euro-denominated bond, and the euro strengthened against the dollar, your returns from that bond would be higher in dollar terms. Of course, the opposite is also true, as a strong dollar erodes the value of returns in weaker currencies.

汇率涨跌会影响票息收益的巨细并缩小债券价钱的动摇幅度，因而给债券投资的报答带来十分年夜的影响。比方投资者买入的是欧元标价的债券，欧元/美圆的汇率呈现贬值，那末以美圆为基准来权衡，该笔债券投资的报答将失掉晋升。固然了，反之亦然，由于美圆贬值会腐蚀该笔债券投资所获的收益。

Components of return

债券投资报答率的组成中受汇率动摇影响的局部

Currency returns can have a big impact on international bond returns.

汇率收益会给本国债券的投资报答带来很年夜影响，下图为彭博巴克莱非美圆货泉债券总报答指数，图中的浅蓝色线柱为汇率动摇给债券收益带来的影响。

*As of 05/31/2019.

Source: Schwab Center for Financial Research using Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate ex-USD Total Return Index. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Diversification benefits

多元化投资的益处

Because foreign bonds are subject to different economic growth, interest rate and currency market conditions, they tend to perform differently from U.S. bonds. Emerging market and developed market bonds have a negative or very weak positive correlation with U.S. Treasuries—meaning that the investments rarely move in tandem.

由于投资本国债券会遭到差别国度的经济增加情况、利率程度以及外汇市场行情的影响，因而其收益状况凡是会与投资美国债券有所差别。新兴市场国度以及兴旺国度的债券与美国国债之间出现的是负联系关系干系或者很弱的正联系关系干系，这也就象征着这两类债券根本上没有会同涨同跌。

How to invest

若何投资本国债券？

Investors who are seeking an allocation to foreign bonds in their fixed income portfolios could consider investing through a diversified bond fund or through an active professional manager.

追求将牢固收益组合中一局部资金用于设置装备摆设本国债券的投资者正在操纵时能够思索经过多元化设置装备摆设作风的债券基金或者经过自动办理型投资机构停止。

For some investors, a combination of passive (indexing) and active strategies may make sense. An actively managed fund could provide access to a wider array of securities for greater diversification than an index fund. Also, actively managed funds can adjust their holdings in response to market conditions if necessary, unlike index funds (though actively managed funds tend to have higher fees, so that needs to be taken into consideration).

关于某些投资者来讲，将盯住指数的主动型投资以及自动型买卖战略分离起来应是靠谱的做法。自动办理型债券基金可让投资者取得比指数型基金更年夜的投资标的挑选余地，并且，自动型基金正在须要的状况下能够依据市场状况调剂其债券持仓，这一点差别于指数型基金，虽然自动型基金的手续费凡是更高，因而正在做投资决议计划的时分该当思索到这一点。

3 building blocks of your bond portfolio

债券投资组合的三个次要组成局部

Core bonds:U.S. Treasury bonds, investment-grade corporate bonds and municipal bonds can help provide diversification, stability and income. Although allocations can vary, they can comprise up to 100% of your overall portfolio allocation.

中心债券：普通包含美国国债、投资级公司债以及市政债券，这些债券有助于为债券投资组合供给分离化、波动性以及票息收益。虽然设置装备摆设比率可多可少，但中心债券正在全部债券投资组合中的占比最高可达100%。

Aggressive income:U.S. high-yield corporate bonds, emerging market bonds and preferred securities all offer higher income potential, but at significantly higher risk compared with core bonds. Even if you are an aggressive investor with a high tolerance for risk, aggressive income products should make up no more than 20% of your overall portfolio allocation.

保守收益型债券：普通包含美国高收益公司债、新兴市场债券以及优先股类证券，此类债券均有能够带来较高的票息收益，但与中心债券比拟危害分明偏偏高。即便投资者的作风属于危害接受才能较强的保守型投资者，保守收益型债券正在全部投资组合中的占比也不该超越20%。

International developed bonds:Non-U.S. developed country bonds can provide diversification, but often carry higher risk. They can make up as much as 10% of your overall portfolio allocation.

兴旺国度债券：美国之外兴旺国度刊行的债券能够给投资者带来多元化的投资选项，但此类债券的危害凡是较高，正在全部投资组合中的占比可到达10%。