Sinking Fund

<body onLoad="MM_checkPlugin('Shockwave Flash','','http://www.riskglossary.com/default_nofl.htm',false);return document.MM_returnValue" stylesrc="../_private/template.htm" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" link="#669933" vlink="#000000" alink="#000000"> <div align="left"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" id="table1"> <tr> <td width="740"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" height="37" id="table2"> <tr> <td height="35" width="100%"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" cellpadding="0" id="table3"> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left" valign="top"> <p class="header_gold">Sinking Fund</td> <td width="45" align="right" valign="bottom"> <map name="FPMap6"> <area href="http://www.contingencyanalysis.com" shape="rect" coords="1, 0, 44, 11" target="_top"> </map> <img border="0" src="../images/home.gif" usemap="#FPMap6" width="45" height="12"></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" bgcolor="#CC9966" height="2"> <img border="0" src="../images/blank_2x2.gif" width="2" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="0%" valign="top" bgcolor="#FFFFCC"> <table border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" id="table4"> <tr> <td width="0%" align="left" valign="top"> <p class="header2_black">Explained:<br> <img border="0" src="../images/blank_1x100.gif" width="100" height="1"></td> <td width="0%" align="left" valign="top"><p class="word_list"> <a href="#sinking fund">sinking fund</a><br> <img border="0" src="../images/blank_1x160.gif" width="160" height="1"></td> <td width="100%" align="left" valign="top"><p class="word_list"> <br> <img border="0" src="../images/blank_1x160.gif" width="160" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="310" align="left" id="table5"> <tr> <td width="300" height="14"><font size="2"> </font><font size="4"> </font></td> <td width="9" height="14"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="300"> <script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script>  </td> <td width="9"> </td> </tr> </table> <p class="body">Some <a href="../articles/corporate_bond.htm">corporate bonds</a> and most <a href="../articles/preferred_stock.htm">preferred stock</a> have <b><a name="sinking fund">sinking fund</a></b> provisions. These require the issuer to set aside funds and retire a specified amount of the outstanding securities each year. Securities can be retired in two ways:</p> <p class="bullet_line_space"><img border="0" src="../images/bullet.gif" width="20" height="10">Securities may be purchased in the secondary market and then retired.</p> <p class="bullet_line_space"><img border="0" src="../images/bullet.gif" width="20" height="10">Securities may be <a href="../articles/callable_bond.htm">called</a>. Usually, the <a href="../articles/callable_bond.htm">call price</a> is the security's <a href="../articles/par_value.htm">par value</a>. The specific securities to be retired each year are determined by random lottery.</p> <p class="body">Sinking fund schedules vary. They generally require that a fixed number of securities be retired each year. For preferred stock, retirements continue until the entire issue has been retired. For bonds, anywhere from 20% to 100% of an issue will be retired prior to maturity. The issuer may have options to postpone retirements for the first few years or to accelerate retirements. The latter option may be used by a bond issuer to <a href="../articles/callable_bond.htm">refund</a> some bonds that otherwise would not be callable.</p> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="345" align="right" id="table6"> <tr> <td align="right" width="9"> </td> <td width="336"> <script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script>  </td> </tr> </table> <p class="body">Sinking funds serve different purposes for preferred stock and bonds. For preferred stock, they transform the securities from permanent <a href="../articles/capital_allocation.htm">capital</a> to a form of long-term funding comparable to a <a href="../articles/corporate_bond.htm">corporate bond</a>. Unlike corporate bonds, the preferred stock retains the flexibility to skip some <a href="../articles/common_stock.htm">dividend</a> payments.</p> <p class="body">For bonds, a sinking fund provides investors with assurance that the issuer will be responsible in setting aside earnings and retiring the debt. Failure to do so would mean that all the bonds' <a href="../articles/par_value.htm">principal</a> would come due on the maturity date. This could pose <a href="../articles/liquidity_risk.htm">liquidity risk</a>, especially if the issuer's <a href="../articles/credit_risk.htm">credit quality</a> declines in the interim. For this reason, the failure of an issuer to honor a sinking fund provision constitutes a default.</p> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" id="table7"> <tr> <td height="30" valign="bottom" colspan="2"> <p class="header2_black">Related Internal Links</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" bgcolor="#CC9966" height="2"> <img border="0" src="../images/blank_2x2.gif" width="2" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#FFFFCC" colspan="2"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" cellpadding="6" id="table8"> <tr> <td width="100%"> <p align="left" class="explanatory_text"> <img border="0" src="../images/bullet_link_glossary.gif" width="26" height="15"><a href="../articles/coupon_bond.htm">bond</a> Securitized debt.</p> <p class="explanatory_text"> <img border="0" src="../images/bullet_link_glossary.gif" width="26" height="15"><a href="../articles/book_entry_registered_bearer_bonds.htm">book-entry, registered and bearer bonds</a> Three forms of bonds differing in how ownership is evidenced.<p class="explanatory_text"> <img border="0" src="../images/bullet_link_glossary.gif" width="26" height="15"><strong style="font-weight: 400"><a href="../articles/callable_security.htm">callable security</a> </strong>A security that can be retired ("called" or redeemed") early.<p align="left" class="explanatory_text"> <img border="0" src="../images/bullet_link_glossary.gif" width="26" height="15"><strong style="font-weight: 400"><a href="../articles/corporate_bond.htm">corporate bond</a> A bond issued by a corporation.</strong></p> <p class="explanatory_text"> <img border="0" src="../images/bullet_link_glossary.gif" width="26" height="15"><strong style="font-weight: 400"><a href="../articles/preferred_stock.htm">preferred stock</a> Stock that is senior to common stock and pays a fixed dividend.</strong><p class="explanatory_text"> <img border="0" src="../images/bullet_link_glossary.gif" width="26" height="15"><a href="../articles/record_date.htm">record date</a> the date on which the owners of a security are identified for the purpose of making an upcoming interest or dividend payment.<p class="explanatory_text"> <img border="0" src="../images/bullet_link_glossary.gif" width="26" height="15"><a href="../articles/security.htm">security</a> A financial instrument such as a stock or bond.</td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="30" valign="bottom" colspan="2"> <p class="header2_black">Sponsored Links</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" bgcolor="#CC9966" height="2"> <img border="0" src="../images/blank_2x2.gif" width="2" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#FFFFCC" width="75"> <img border="0" src="../images/ad_side_banner_2.jpg" width="103" height="285"></td> <td bgcolor="#FFFFCC" width="99%"> <script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script>  </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="30" valign="bottom" colspan="2"> <p class="header2_black">Related Books</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" bgcolor="#CC9966" height="2"> <img border="0" src="../images/blank_2x2.gif" width="2" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#FFFFCC" colspan="2"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" cellpadding="6" id="table9"> <tr> <td width="100%"> <p class="explanatory_text">Fabozzi (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.riskbook.com/link/fabozzi_frank_(2000).htm">2005</a>) is the standard reference on bonds. 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