If you’re like many investors, you like the safety of Israel government bonds. It’s considered the most solid Israeli security, but in today’s low interest rate environment, the yields are somewhat modest at 2% to 5% per year. This type of return begs the question - how can one increase the yield of their bond portfolio without adding considerable risk?
One suggested way to do this is to add bank bonds. Bank bonds issued by the top two Israeli banks (Bank Leumi and Bank Hapoalim) are highly-rated by the Standard & Poor’s rating agency (A+ to AA+). These bonds typically give 1% extra yield over their government bond counterparts, factoring in that they are corporations and not the government. So, by augmenting your portfolio with bank bonds, you increase the overall yield. While the leading Israeli banks are limited liability companies, and can theoretically delay or default on interest or principal payments, the chances of an Israeli bank defaulting are slim. Even in the recent global banking crisis of 2008-2009, Israeli banks didn’t default on their bond payments or go bankrupt, and therefore did not require any bailouts. Their international sub-prime mortgage loan exposure was low due to the strict banking regulatory environment, and such risky loans didn’t even exist (and still don’t) in the Israeli real estate market. The Government of Israel also gave an implicit backing of the banks to indicate to the markets that Israel wouldn’t let it’s banks fail.
Bond types
There are three primary types of corporate bonds: fixed-rate, adjustable-rate and inflation-indexed. Both Bank Leumi and Bank Hapoalim offer bonds from each type.
Fixed-rate bonds tend to yield the highest levels of interest, but are more subject to price decreases when interest rates rise. Long duration fixed-rate bonds should be avoided if you plan to redeem your bond before full-maturity.
Inflation-indexed bonds adjust according to the Israeli Consumer Price Index (CPI). Israel’s current inflation rate expectation is 3%. Therefore, when you buy an inflation-indexed bond, you receive the listed interest rate (such as 3.5%/year) plus the inflation index (for example, 3%/year). In this case, your annual effective yield would be 6.5%.
Adjustable-rate bonds pay a variable interest rate, depending on what the government interest rate is at the time. For example, if you purchase an adjustable Bank Leumi adjustable-rate bond listed at 3.6% now, and three months from now the Bank of Israel raises interest rates by 1%, your bond will pay you interest at the rate of 4.6%. This continues during the whole life of the bond. As we’re experiencing historically low interest rates globally, experts believe the only reasonable direction for interest rates to go is up. Currently, the Bank of Israel interest rate is 2%, but we could easily see it at 6% in a few years time. At that time, the same bond would pay a 9.6% yield yearly. Therefore, adjustable-rate bonds are recommended by many experts today.
Suggested bank bonds
Here are a few suggested bonds of each type from Bank Leumi” (Leumi Finance”) and Bank Hapoalim (“Poalim Offerings”).
table last updated on January 28, 2011
| Corporation | Bond Series | Type | Annual Yield to Maturity (YTM) on Jan 10, 2011 | S&P Rating | Moody Rating | Maturity Date | Online info | Bond# |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leumi Finance | 301 | Adjustable-rate | 3.56% | A+ | Aa2 | 08/10/20 | More info... | 7410210 |
| Poalim Offerings | 13 | Adjustable-rate | 3.18% | AA | 08/31/17 | More info... | 1940436 | |
| Poalim Offerings | 30 | Adjustable-rate | 3.27% | AA+ | 11/30/18 | More info... | 1940493 | |
| Leumi Finance | 300 | Inflation-indexed | 3.42% | A+ | Aa2 | 08/10/20 | More info... | 7410202 |
| Poalim Offerings | 1 | Inflation-indexed | 3.54% | A+ | 07/01/20 | More info... | 1940444 | |
| Poalim Offerings | 14 | Inflation-indexed | 3.35% | AA | 12/06/22 | More info... | 1940501 | |
| Poalim Offerings | 11 | Fixed-rate | 5.81% | AA | 03/28/21 | More info... | 1940410 | |
| Leumi Finance | 13 | Fixed-rate | 5.55% | AA | Aa1 | 09/10/17 | More info... | 7410236 |
| Poalim Offerings | 29 | Fixed-rate | 5.62% | AA+ | 05/30/19 | More info... | 1940485 |
Current Yield to Maturity, the best measure of real rate of return, and even more bond details, can be viewed using the Google-translated Bank Leumi website (the translation to English is problematic).
Ratings
There are two internationally-recognized bond rating agencies that examine Israeli companies’ ability to repay their debts: Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s. Listed below is the meaning of each of their rankings. The S&P’s rank can add a fine tuning of + or -; Moody’s can add a fine tuning of 1,2 or 3 to better rank a bond within a specific category.
| Standard and Poor's (Ma'alot) Rating | Moody's (Midrug) Rating | Description | Investment Grade | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | Aaa | Excellent | Investment Grade | The issuer has excellent ability to repay the payments for the liability compared to other Israeli issuers |
| AA+ AA AA- | Aa1 Aa2 Aa3 | Very high | Investment Grade | Ability to repay the payment obligation is much more than average compared to other Israeli issuers |
| A+ A A- | A1 A2 A3 | Medium - high | Investment Grade | Ability to repay the liability payments is beyond the average compared to other Israeli issuers |
| BBB+ BBB BBB- | Baa1 Baa2 Baa3 | Medium | Investment Grade | Ability to repay the payment obligation is average compared to other Israeli issuers |
| BB+ BB BB- | Ba1 Ba2 Ba3 | Problematic | Speculative Grade | Ability to repay the liability payments is below average compared to other Israeli issuers |
| B+ B B- | B1 B2 B3 | Low | Speculative Grade | Ability to repay the liability payments is far below average compared to other Israeli issuers |
| CCC+ CCC CCC- | Caa1 Caa2 Caa3 | Much lower | Speculative Grade | The bond has characteristics that may cause default of interest payments and/or principal |
| CC | Ca | Very much lower | Speculative Grade | Failure to meet interest payments and/or principal repayment seems very reasonable |
| C | C | Very low | Speculative Grade | The bond issuer is insolvent or stopped interest payment and/or principal |
| DDD DD D | Very low | Speculative Grade | The issuer has defaulted on payments |
More details on the banks
| Corporation | Company Market Capitalization (in Israeli Shekels) | Company on index | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leumi Finance | 26 Billion | Tel Aviv Large Cap 25 | Leumi Finance is engaged in raising funds for Bank Leumi in Israel, through public offerings private placements of bonds and subordinated notes. Leumi Finance is wholly owned by Bank Leumi. Bank Leumi Le-Israel Ltd. engages in diverse financial and business banking in Israel and abroad. In accordance with its business strategy, the bank is organized into four business lines: one line focused on providing banking services to large international companies, another line focused on providing commercial banking services to medium-sized companies, a third line providing private banking for customers who require high-level, complex investment solutions, and a retail banking line focused on providing banking services to households and small businesses. Some of the bank's financial services are provided through subsidiaries in the fields of credit cards, capital market, mortgages, underwriting and more. In addition, Bank Leumi Group business investment corporations are active in the insurance, infrastructure, and real estate markets in Israel and abroad, tourism and leisure, communications and media, energy, shipping and chemical industries. |
| Poalim Offerings | 24 Billion | Tel Aviv Large Cap 25 | Poalim Offerings is an auxiliary corporation of Bank Hapoalim, raising funds through the issuance of subordinated notes or bonds for the bank. The company is wholly owned by Bank Hapoalim. Bank Hapoalim works in all the various banking areas, including retail and business clients. Beyond it's numerous bank branches around the country, the bank issues credit and debit cards, manages mutual funds, investment portfolios and online securities trading activities. The bank is the leading Israeli bank. |
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