The name's bond...

European corporate bonds can add returns to investors' portfolios at far lower levels of risk than equities. In fact, for many investors, either private individuals or pension funds, bonds may be the most appropriate asset class to own. While bonds are rightly perceived to be assets with low volatility of returns, it is possible to enhance these returns by diversifying away from traditional bonds, like bunds, into corporate bonds. These offer higher yields and investors are generally overcompensated for the risk of the company defaulting. Corporate bonds have outperformed equities for o...