Treasury bills: number one goal for conservative savers

Since the rise in the price of money in the euro zone began, Treasury Bills have become the number one objective of Spanish conservative savers. After a good handful of years in the purgatory of negative interest rates, shorter-term State debt has burst with extraordinary force into the portfolios of Spanish families.

According to statistics from the Bank of Spain, at the end of the first half of the year, retailers had accumulated more than 16.6 billion euros in Letras, which have become the true investment phenomenon of the moment.

Investors can purchase these securities in four different terms: three, six, nine and twelve months. Every month, the Treasury holds two auctions. The first, at six and twelve months, is celebrated on the first Tuesday of each month. The second Tuesday is reserved for the bidding for the three- and nine-month securities.

Although the returns are far from the maximums reached in 2023, the September auctions leave a very attractive scenario for the individual investor. Three-month bills pay 3.49%, six-month bills pay 3.67%; At nine months the yield jumps to 3.73% while at one year the average marginal interest rate (see attached graph) is 3.68%.

With some exceptions, the profitability of the Letters exceeds that of the bulk of the deposits, especially in the two shortest terms. These attractive returns and the security offered by the role of the State have made them one of the favorite options of individuals.

Purchases can be made directly or indirectly. In the first type, they have very low commissions, of just 1.5 euros for every 1,000 euros of investment. It is necessary to have an account at the Bank of Spain, which can be opened from the headquarters of the institution itself in each province. An appointment is required, which can be requested on the Bank of Spain website or by calling 91 3385000.

When you have the account at the Bank of Spain, you can buy the Letters on the Treasury website, but a digital certificate is required, as well as at the Bank of Spain, but an appointment is also required.

Indirectly, Letters can be purchased at a bank branch, but the commissions are so high that the entities themselves refer clients to public organizations.

An interesting option is to go to the secondary fixed income market. Here the situation changes and the Letters can be obtained with the profitability at which they are quoted at that moment. To do this, you can go directly to platforms such as those offered by Auriga Bonos or Renta 4, among others.

With the end of the interest rate hike closer, buyers must fine-tune their strategies. Although they are at attractive levels. The profitability of the Letters has not managed to reach the level of 4% that some experts predicted in the summer. But there are important differences between the different deadlines.

After the September auctions, the nine-month bills are the most profitable, as has been usual in recent months, at a time when between the highest and lowest profitability in the four different terms there is a difference of only 24 basis points.

The market consensus recommends that investors, once they have recovered their money from the Bills, invest it in securities with longer durations given the possibility that interest rates are already very close to maximum levels. This would allow them to enjoy high returns for longer.

But the most interesting term to invest depends on future interest rate expectations. If it is thought that rates will continue to rise in the coming months, Letters with a shorter duration allow you to maximize the investment, gaining flexibility to later reinvest at even higher rates and earn additional profitability.

But if the thesis being used is that the price of money has reached its highest level or is about to do so, tying the Letters with longer maturities is the most advisable to keep that high return for longer.

Now, experts point out that there is little room left for rates to rise, so the most conservative option would be to acquire Letters for the longest possible term even at the cost of a few basis points less profitability.