A baby bond is a fixed income security that is issued in small-dollar denominations, with a par value of less than $1,000. The small denominations enhance the attraction of baby bonds to average retail investors.

小额债券是一种以小面值发行的固定收入证券，票面价值低于1000美元。小面额债券增强了小额债券对普通散户投资者的吸引力。

Understanding Baby Bonds

关于小额债券

Baby bonds are issued mainly by municipalities, counties, and states to fund expensive infrastructure projects and capital expenditures. These tax-exempt municipal bonds are generally structured as zero-coupon bonds with a maturity of between eight and 15 years. The muni bonds are usually rated A or better in the bond market.

小额债券主要由市、县和州发行，为昂贵的基础设施项目和资本支出提供资金。这些免税市政债券通常是零息债券，期限为8至15年。市政债券在债券市场的评级通常为A级或更高。

Baby bonds are also issued by businesses as corporate bonds. Corporate issuers of these debt securities include utility companies, investment banks, telecom companies, and business development companies (BDCs) involved in funding small- and mid-sized businesses. The price of the corporate bonds is determined by the issuer’s financial health, credit rating, and available market data for the company. A company that cannot or does not want to issue a large debt offering may issue baby bonds as a way to generate demand and liquidity for the bonds. Another reason that a company may issue baby bonds is to attract small or retail investors who may not have the funds to purchase the standard $1,000 par value bond.

小额债券也作为公司债券由企业发行。这些债务证券的公司发行者包括公用事业公司、投资银行、电信公司和参与中小企业融资的企业发展公司(BDC)。公司债券的价格由发行人的财务状况、信用评级和公司可用的市场数据决定。一家不能或不想发行大额债务债券的公司可以发行小额债券，作为产生债券需求和流动性的一种方式。公司发行小额债券的另一个原因是为了吸引小型或散户投资者，他们可能没有资金购买标准的1000美元面值的债券。

Example

示例

For example, an entity that wanted to borrow money by issuing $4 million worth of bonds might not garner much interest from institutional investors for such a relatively small issue. In addition, with a $1,000 par value, the issuer will be able to sell only 4,000 bond certificates on the markets. However, if the company issues baby bonds instead for a $400 face value, retail investors will be able to affordably access these securities, and the company will have the capacity to issue 10,000 bonds in the capital markets.

例如，一个实体想通过发行价值400万美元的债券来借钱，但机构投资者可能不会对这种相对较小的发行产生太大兴趣。此外，以1000美元的面值，发行人将只能在市场上出售4000张债券。但是，如果该公司发行面值为400美元的小额债券，散户投资者将能够负担得起这些证券，该公司将有能力在资本市场上发行10,000只债券。

Additional Considerations

其他注意事项

Baby bonds are typically categorized as unsecured debt, meaning the issuer or borrower does not pledge any collateral to guarantee interest payments and principal repayments in the event of default. Therefore, if the issuer defaults on its payment obligations, baby bondholders would get paid only after the claims of secured debt holders were met. However, following the standard structure of debt instruments, baby bonds are senior to a company’s preferred shares and common stock.

小额债券通常被归类为无担保债务，这意味着发行人或借款人不抵押任何抵押品来保证违约时的利息支付和本金偿还。因此，如果发行人违约，只有在担保债务持有人的索赔得到满足后，小额债券持有人才能获得支付。但是，根据债务工具的标准结构，小额债券优先于公司的优先股和普通股。

One feature of baby bonds is that they are callable. A callable bond is one that can be redeemed early, that is, before maturity, by the issuer. When bonds are called, the interest payments also stop being paid by the issuer. To compensate baby bondholders for the risk of calling a bond prior to its maturity date, these bonds have relatively high coupon rates, ranging from around 5 percent to 8 percent.

小额债券的一个特点是它们是可赎回的。可赎回债券是指发行人可以提前赎回的债券，即在到期前赎回。当债券被赎回时，发行人也停止支付利息。为了补偿小额债券持有人在债券到期日之前赎回债券的风险，这些债券的票面利率相对较高，从5%到8%不等。

Other Baby Bonds

其他小额债券

Baby bonds may also refer to a series of small denomination savings bonds with face value ranging from $75 to $1,000, issued by the U.S. government from 1935 to 1941. These tax-exempt bonds were sold at 75% of face value and had a maturity of 10 years.

小额债券也可能指美国政府在1935年至1941年发行的一系列小面额储蓄债券，面值从75美元到1000美元不等。这些免税债券以面值的75%出售，期限为10年。

In the UK, baby bonds refer to a type of bond launched in the late 1990s with the objective of encouraging savings for children by their parents. Parents had to make small monthly contributions for at least 10 years and in return, the child received a guaranteed minimum amount tax-free upon turning 18.

在英国，小额债券是指上世纪90年代末推出的一种债券，目的是鼓励父母为子女储蓄。父母必须在至少10年内每月缴纳小额保费，作为回报，孩子在年满18岁时可以获得保证的最低免税金额。

（英文来源：Investopedia）