Sorry for taking so long in getting back to you. The short answer is; No, not really.
In what can only seem like yet another example of “seemed like a good idea at the time”, a bunch of players created and promoted some pretty dubious products that may well have delivered fat fee flows to their shops, but merely introduced pain to those beguiled enough to buy in. One commentator has written of this folly, recently. Note that this allocation was meant to be in the defensive part of a portfolio, where it should be about return of capital, not return on capital. And being ASX listed is no guarantee of liquidity.
The author wrote:
“I also held some long-term bond positions, such as in listed bonds, Australian Unity’s ASX:AYUPA paying 5% pa, ECP Fund’s ASX:ECPGA at 5.5% pa and Mercantile’s ASX:MVTHA at 4.8% pa. At the beginning of 2022, selling these would have reduced cash flow from over 5% to around zero, and (like everyone else including the Reserve Bank Governor), I did not expect rates to rise quickly. I decided to take the ongoing income which was likely to be better than cash, notwithstanding the greater (but I judged acceptable for the reward) credit risk.
“These three listed securities are now ‘trading’ at about $88, no bid and $94. Not the end of the world but large capital losses on the defensive part of my portfolio were not part of the plan. Liquidity in these small, corporate bond issues is poor despite public listing. Spreads were wide and I sat on the offer for many weeks to reduce these bond positions at a decent price.”
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