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Riding the yield curve: a spanning analysis

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  • Valentina Galvani
  • Stuart Landon

Abstract

The average return on long-term bonds exceeds the return on short-term bills by a large amount over short investment horizons. A riding-the-yield-curve investment strategy takes advantage of the higher returns on longer term bonds. This strategy involves the purchase of bonds with maturities longer than the investment horizon and the sale of these bonds, before they mature, at the end of the investment horizon. Most of the literature that evaluates this strategy compares only ex post average returns or Sharpe ratios. In this paper, we use spanning tests to provide formal statistical evidence on the benefits of investing in long bonds when the investment horizon is short. The results for both the United States and Canada indicate that an investor with a short horizon is better off investing in short-term debt instruments than long-term bonds. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2013

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  • Valentina Galvani & Stuart Landon, 2013. "Riding the yield curve: a spanning analysis," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 135-154, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:rqfnac:v:40:y:2013:i:1:p:135-154
    DOI: 10.1007/s11156-011-0267-7
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    3. María O González & Frank Skinner & Samuel Agyei-Ampomah, 2013. "Term structure information and bond strategies," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 53-74, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bond market; Portfolio diversification; Mean–variance spanning; Yield curve; G11; G12; G15;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets

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