pros and cons of the three coupons – Corriere.it

Italy, Future. And now Value. Not a slogan, but the list of the three types of Btp that the Treasury has placed and will place in two weeks in the case of the Btp Valore for the first time. With auctions that you can also participate in from your living room, if you have online access to the bank. Yields range from 1% to over 4%, depending on the term. The three options tend to combine the very classic fixed-coupon BTPs with issues that can provide for increasing interest rates. Both with values ​​already established at the time of placement, and with values ​​linked to inflationary dynamics. In both cases, the choice to offer instruments in line with the financial market situation. Even if the operation is not always successful. It is no coincidence that from Bot people we have become Btp people, in the light of the interest that Italian and non-Italian investors show in the article. In retrospect, and with a view to managing the personal securities portfolio with diversified instruments, it seems appropriate to review the characteristics, in order to highlight their merits, adding any defects to them, even though, almost always, it is the evolution of changing market conditions to bring them to light.

Btp Italia and Futura

The best loved, and naturally the most widespread, is the BTP Italia, the issue that adjusts the coupon flow to any inflationary dynamics. Situation, the latter, which characterized the entire financial sector, at the end of the complex pandemic phase. In this case, the explosion in raw material prices has caused the cost of living to rise to completely unexpected values. The coupon component of the Btp Italia largely rewarded the savers who held it in their portfolio. Because their value rose significantly, even in the face of a coupon flow which, in the absence of the inflationary component, would not have been particularly attractive. And in this consideration lurks a hypothetical dissatisfaction of those who put Btp Italia into their portfolio in phases in which the inflation rate is practically nil. The underlying reason is that the coupon value is generally lower than the coupon flow of the classic BTP with the same duration. And then there is the Btp Futura, the instrument that has given rise to the greatest disappointments among investors. Even if at the time of placement of the four issues, several dates were set in which the value of the coupon flow would increase. Why are savers disappointed? Because the placements were decided in a phase of very modest returns and few, perhaps, imagined a dramatic inflationary impact like the one that has occurred. And, although the future level of the coupons has been settled on increasing values, currently very far from the values ​​attributed to the BTPs that are now placed.

The characteristics of the Btp Valore

The quotations of the Btp Futura have suffered significant retreats, but there is no need to despair, because, upon repayment, the nominal value subscribed at the time will be credited. The prospect for the Btp Valore could be exactly the opposite, because the instrument will be placed in a phase in which the level of the coupons is medium-high, and could be further increased. Although the duration of the instrument is quite short, four years, even before the repayment, its market quotation could benefit from a rise if, as is probable, market yields decrease compared to today’s ones. A double opportunity, both to benefit from good interest rates, and to forfeit a capital gain, if market yields actually decrease. The loyalty bonus – a feature that unites the Btp Valore to the Btp Italia and also to the Btp Futura which has a double bonus also linked to the increase in GDP – has been set at 0.50%, for those who keep the security in their portfolio from subscription to repayment deed. The coupon amount for the first two years will be communicated at the beginning of next month. For the following two years, it is confirmed that the value of the coupons will then be increased.