Market history · Bonds ·
The world's negative-yielding debt pile
By August 2019, the stock of negative-yielding bonds worldwide had exceeded $15 trillion, including much of the German and Japanese government bond markets. Investors were paying governments to hold their money.
The phenomenon reflected slow growth, low inflation and central-bank purchases. It ended abruptly when inflation returned in 2021–22, and bonds bought at negative yields suffered large losses.
The takeaway
Yield is the starting point for future bond returns; very low starting yields leave little cushion.
This is a retrospective about a past event, provided for general information. It is not investment advice, does not describe RockLake's positioning at the time, and past performance is not a guide to future performance. Read the risk warning.