Let's Talk Bond Funds

[pb4uski]

That is an excellent question that I do not know the answer to!

I poked around a very little bit, looking at BSCM (which "matures" this year). It was issued in 2013 at a NAV right around $20. It is now trading at $21.30, with an annualized yield to maturity of 1.50%. If I am thinking about this correctly, one should expect to get about $0.32/year going forward, and so the NAV at maturity should be about $21. (Don't forget that the holder has been getting distributions of close to the coupon rate the whole while.) I am confident that someone who understands bonds better than I do may be able to give a better answer.

Yes, they are usually around $21... 2019/BSCJ was $21.08634 and 2020/BSCK was $21.20158.

As a previous holder, what I found was that the returns in the terminal year were poor because as bonds mature from January to December the proceeds are invested in short-term paper that pays diddly-squat (a technical finance term). So I just sold them about a year before the terminal distribution to sidestep the poor terminal year return.