Zero coupon yield

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Revision as of 22:27, 11 November 2015 by imported>Doug Williamson (Add note about converting to other yield curves.)
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The rate of return on an investment today, for a single cashflow at maturity of the instrument.

Equal to the current market rate of return on zero coupon bonds of the same maturity.


Example

The zero coupon yield for the maturity 0-3 periods is 2% per period.

This means that a deposit of £1,000,000 at Time 0 periods on these terms would return:

£1,000,000 x 1.023

= £1,061,208 at Time 3 periods.

(No intermediate interest is payable.)


An application of zero coupon yields is the pricing of zero coupon bonds.


The zero coupon yield is also known as the Zero coupon rate, spot rate, or spot yield.


Conversion

If we know the zero coupon yield, we can calculate both the par yield and the forward yield for the same maturities and risk class.


See also