G-Secs are generally referred to as risk free instruments as sovereigns rarely default on their payments. However, as is the case with any financial instrument, there are risks associated with holding the G-Secs. Hence, it is important to identify and understand such risks and take appropriate measures for mitigation of the same. The following are the major risks associated with holding G-Secs:

29.1 Market risk – Market risk arises out of adverse movement of prices of the securities due to changes in interest rates. This will result in valuation losses on marking to market or realizing a loss if the securities are sold at adverse prices. Small investors, to some extent, can mitigate market risk by holding the bonds till maturity so that they can realize the yield at which the securities were actually bought.

29.2 Reinvestment risk – Cash flows on a G-Sec includes a coupon every half year and repayment of principal at maturity. These cash flows need to be reinvested whenever they are paid. Hence there is a risk that the investor may not be able to reinvest these proceeds at yield prevalent at the time of making investment due to decrease in interest rates prevailing at the time of receipt of cash flows by investors.

29.3 Liquidity risk – Liquidity in G-Secs is referred to as the ease with which security can be bought and sold i.e. availability of buy-sell quotes with narrow spreads. Liquidity risk refers to the inability of an investor to liquidate (sell) his holdings due to non-availability of buyers for the security, i.e., no trading activity in that particular security or circumstances resulting in distressed sale (selling at a much lower price than its holding cost) causing loss to the seller. Usually, when a liquid bond of fixed maturity is bought, its tenor gets reduced due to time decay. For example, a 10-year security will become 8 year security after 2 years due to which it may become illiquid. The bonds also become illiquid when there are no frequent reissuances by the issuer (RBI) in those bonds. Bonds are generally reissued till a sizeable amount becomes outstanding under that bond. However, issuer and sovereign have to ensure that there is no excess burden on Government at the time of maturity of the bond as very large amount maturing on a single day may affect the fiscal position of Government. Hence, reissuances for securities are generally stopped after outstanding under that bond touches a particular limit. Due to illiquidity, the investor may need to sell at adverse prices in case of urgent funds requirement. However, in such cases, eligible investors can participate in market repo and borrow the money against the collateral of such securities.

Risk Mitigation

29.4 Holding securities till maturity could be a strategy through which one could avoid market risk. Rebalancing the portfolio wherein the securities are sold once they become short term and new securities of longer tenor are bought could be followed to manage the portfolio risk. However, rebalancing involves transaction and other costs and hence needs to be used judiciously. Market risk and reinvestment risk could also be managed through Asset Liability Management (ALM) by matching the cash flows with liabilities. ALM could also be undertaken by matching the duration of the assets and liabilities.

Advanced risk management techniques involve use of derivatives like Interest Rate Swaps (IRS) through which the nature of cash flows could be altered. However, these are complex instruments requiring advanced level of expertise for proper understanding. Adequate caution, therefore, need to be observed for undertaking the derivatives transactions and such transactions should be undertaken only after having complete understanding of the associated risks and complexities.