Semi-government bonds are much like commonwealth government bonds (ACGBs) except they are issued instead by the various state and territory governments. Like other bonds, these semi-government bonds come in a variety of maturities and pay different rates of regular interest. The various issuers of the bonds also carry different credit ratings – designed to reflect the creditworthiness of each state government.
As such the yields on semi-government bonds are generally slightly higher than ACGBs, reflecting the additional credit risk of a state government over the commonwealth government. Investors can choose a slightly higher yielding semi-government bond for accepting a slightly higher credit risk.
Comparing prices and yields for these semi-government bonds can be a tricky and time-consuming undertaking for investors; traded yields are not widely published. YieldReport, however, does the hard work and collates the latest yield information on each of these bonds, across the entire spectrum of maturities.
Readers also find it easy to compare yields on these semi-government bonds with other types of bonds including ACGBs and corporate bonds, to see how they compare and to see which might be most appropriate for their own needs.