Browse Investing

Corporate and Credit Bonds

Corporate bond, debenture, high-yield, secured, unsecured, hybrid, structured, and thematic corporate debt terms.

Corporate and credit bonds are debt securities issued by companies or credit-sensitive borrowers, with risk driven by business cash flow, leverage, collateral, seniority, covenants, and market liquidity.

Use this branch when a bond’s return depends on corporate credit quality rather than mainly government backing or portfolio wrapper design.

What This Branch Covers

AreaUse it for
Corporate Bond Basics and Credit QualityCorporate bonds, guaranteed bonds, high-grade bonds, investment-grade bonds, high-yield bonds, junk bonds, and taxable bonds.
Secured, Unsecured, and Collateralized BondsDebentures, secured bonds, senior secured bonds, unsecured bonds, loan stock, equipment trusts, and collateralized debt.
Hybrid Income and Structured Corporate DebtETNs, PIBS, QUIDS, repackaged perpetual debt, tap stock, and structured corporate debt.
Thematic and Special-Purpose Corporate BondsGreen bonds and other corporate debt tied to a theme or use of proceeds.

Common Mistakes

  • Treating corporate yield as income without considering default and downgrade risk.
  • Ignoring seniority, collateral, guarantees, and covenant package.
  • Comparing high-yield and investment-grade bonds only by coupon.
  • Assuming a thematic label changes the issuer’s repayment capacity.

In this section

Choose a subsection first. Deeper term pages live inside each subsection, which keeps large topic hubs readable.

Corporate Bond Basics

Corporate, guaranteed, high-grade, investment-grade, high-yield, junk, and taxable bond terms.

Hybrid Debt

ETN, PIBS, QUIDS, repackaged perpetual debt, tap stock, and structured corporate debt terms.

Security and Collateral

Debenture, secured bond, senior secured bond, unsecured bond, loan stock, equipment trust, and collateralized debt terms.

Thematic Bonds

Green bond and other special-purpose corporate bond terms.

Revised on Sunday, June 21, 2026