Senior investors advised to buy at least HK$200,000 silver bonds for higher returns

Hong Kong’s senior investors are advised to subscribe to at least 20 board lots of the latest batch of silver bonds as the sales start today, a move that could help lock in higher interest rates.

The government set the minimum interest rate for the three-year bonds at 3.85 percent for local residents aged 60 or above, lower than the 4 percent of the 2024 batch.

But the latest rate is higher than the 3.5 percent returns of three-year US Treasuries and the highest 2.6 percent of current one-year Hong Kong dollar time deposits.

It comes as the US Federal Reserve are expected to announce four consecutive 25-basis-point rate cuts starting the meeting this week.

The Silver Bond has a target issuance size of HK$50 billion and could raise the amount to as much as HK$55 billion, payable semi-annually. Each broad lot of the Silver Bond is priced at HK$10,000.

Senior investors are recommended to book 20 to 30 lots to increase their winning odds, according to experts including Bank of China (Hong Kong) (2388) personal digital banking product department deputy general manager Arnold Chow Kwok-cheong.

It means interest income of at least HK$23,100 when the senior investors hold the bonds till maturity.

According to the results of the previous four batches, each subscriber was granted as many as 24 units.

The sales will start at 9 am on September 15 and continue until 2 pm on September 29.