Buying individual bonds

[the.one.who.wonders]

Hi!
Where do you guys go to buy individual bonds/Tbills/RRB/ILB in Canada? Not talking about bond funds, but individual funds I intend to keep to maturity.

I realize there are auctions for this, and when I go on my discount brokerage account with a sample ISIN code I find nothing. Even if I do a search with no filter the list is very thin (about 100 or so... can't be right!)

Then I go on the finance department of many province's websites (the issuers) and I find more or less a list of issues with yields (with language that is sometimes hard to decipher). However, clearly there is no "buy now" button lol. Quebec and BC both have a platform, but the others have no clear way to make a transaction.

I can't be the only one not being able to purchase individual bonds. Can someone please point me to a ressource? I've been googling each provincial goverments website with varying degree of success, I feel I'm in crazy town. I'm about to naively walk to my town hall and ask them if they need money ahah

[Capt Quiet Time]

Hi.  I don't have a direct answer to your question, but since I don't see any replies here I'll suggest checking out the following forum for an answer:

https://www.bogleheads.org/forum

Hope this helps.  Mike

[dclarke1]

Hi!
Where do you guys go to buy individual bonds/Tbills/RRB/ILB in Canada? Not talking about bond funds, but individual funds I intend to keep to maturity.

I realize there are auctions for this, and when I go on my discount brokerage account with a sample ISIN code I find nothing. Even if I do a search with no filter the list is very thin (about 100 or so... can't be right!)

Then I go on the finance department of many province's websites (the issuers) and I find more or less a list of issues with yields (with language that is sometimes hard to decipher). However, clearly there is no "buy now" button lol. Quebec and BC both have a platform, but the others have no clear way to make a transaction.

I can't be the only one not being able to purchase individual bonds. Can someone please point me to a ressource? I've been googling each provincial goverments website with varying degree of success, I feel I'm in crazy town. I'm about to naively walk to my town hall and ask them if they need money ahah

Hey,

Not sure which brokerage you use, but I use Questrade. It is a bit clumsier process than buying and selling stocks. Each trading day they publish a bond bulletin in pdf form. You download it, select your bond or other fixed income security, then you have to call the trading desk to place your order. A day or so later the security shows up in your profile.

Hope it helps.

[MustacheAndaHalf]

I've bought only a few treasury bills on the secondary market using IBKR.  I click to their bonds area, enter "US-T" for U.S. Treasuries, which shows a small list of short term treasuries.  After I select one and how many bills I want to buy ($1,000 notional value each), I enter a limit order on a market for treasury bills.  Change order if that doesn't sell, until the order fills.  And then they are listed as part of my portfolio.

Short term treasuries mature by being paid their full value.  So if you buy one for $990 and 3 months later it matures for $1,000 then you made $10 profit, or about 1%.  Buying on the secondary market like this also incurs a commission that is $1 per bond, but might be lower in larger orders.

[the.one.who.wonders]

Hi.  I don't have a direct answer to your question, but since I don't see any replies here I'll suggest checking out the following forum for an answer:

https://www.bogleheads.org/forum

Hope this helps.  Mike

thanks, I will post there as well

[the.one.who.wonders]

I've bought only a few treasury bills on the secondary market using IBKR.  I click to their bonds area, enter "US-T" for U.S. Treasuries, which shows a small list of short term treasuries.  After I select one and how many bills I want to buy ($1,000 notional value each), I enter a limit order on a market for treasury bills.  Change order if that doesn't sell, until the order fills.  And then they are listed as part of my portfolio.

Short term treasuries mature by being paid their full value.  So if you buy one for $990 and 3 months later it matures for $1,000 then you made $10 profit, or about 1%.  Buying on the secondary market like this also incurs a commission that is $1 per bond, but might be lower in larger orders.

very nice, will look it up!

[the.one.who.wonders]

Hi!
Where do you guys go to buy individual bonds/Tbills/RRB/ILB in Canada? Not talking about bond funds, but individual funds I intend to keep to maturity.

I realize there are auctions for this, and when I go on my discount brokerage account with a sample ISIN code I find nothing. Even if I do a search with no filter the list is very thin (about 100 or so... can't be right!)

Then I go on the finance department of many province's websites (the issuers) and I find more or less a list of issues with yields (with language that is sometimes hard to decipher). However, clearly there is no "buy now" button lol. Quebec and BC both have a platform, but the others have no clear way to make a transaction.

I can't be the only one not being able to purchase individual bonds. Can someone please point me to a ressource? I've been googling each provincial goverments website with varying degree of success, I feel I'm in crazy town. I'm about to naively walk to my town hall and ask them if they need money ahah

Hey,

Not sure which brokerage you use, but I use Questrade. It is a bit clumsier process than buying and selling stocks. Each trading day they publish a bond bulletin in pdf form. You download it, select your bond or other fixed income security, then you have to call the trading desk to place your order. A day or so later the security shows up in your profile.

Hope it helps.

DW has access, I will check on her platform. thanks for the tip!

[Heckler]

Although I prefer to set it and forget it with VAB, I have not investigated deeper, but I'm surprised if any major brokerage doesn't sell bonds.  Mine does, but only during market hours (I haven't had luck searching individual bonds after hours, but I can find plenty of GICs available).  You might try calling your brokerage first.


https://www.investorsedge.cibc.com/en/tutorials/bond-trade.html

https://help.qtrade.ca/hc/en-ca/articles/9238716154395-How-do-I-buy-a-specific-bond-or-fixed-income-product-

https://www.bmo.com/main/personal/investments/bonds/

https://www.questrade.com/learning/investment-concepts/fixed-income-investments/all-you-need-to-know-about-bonds#:~:text=To%20place%20a%20bond%20trade,currently%20offer%2C%20please%20click%20here.


From the Questrade link above.  :)
Trading bonds
To place a bond trade, please reach out to our trade desk department at 1.866.980.9590 - Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET. Trading bonds at Questrade is commission free and the minimum order is $5,000 (some GICs may have higher minimums). For products we currently offer, please click here.

[Heckler]

I was going to send you to the Canadian sister site of Bogleheads to ask for more detail.  They are Canuck specific, and very focused on fixed-income talk.

https://www.financialwisdomforum.org/forum/

They are also a great resource in the Wiki.  Diversification is why I use VAB for long-term buy and hold bonds.

https://www.finiki.org/wiki/Conventional_bonds#Risk

https://www.finiki.org/wiki/Conventional_bonds#Buying_individual_bonds

[the.one.who.wonders]

Thanks so much!
I've also search here and there an interactive brokers canada also have some interesting inventory and their bonds scanner tool is great