固收专题报告：信用季度：信用季度利差难压，等待下行

Group 1: Report Industry Investment Rating - Not provided in the content Group 2: Core Views of the Report - In Q3, the bond market was mainly affected by anti - involution policies, the stock market, and new fund redemption rules, showing a continuous upward trend. The adjustment in Q3 was characterized by more long - end adjustments, fewer short - end adjustments, fewer low - grade credit adjustments, slightly more high - grade credit adjustments, more adjustments in secondary and perpetual bonds, and fewer adjustments in general credit bonds. In terms of investment returns, credit bonds with a maturity of 2 years or less performed well, while those with a maturity of 3 years or more mostly had negative returns [2]. - Currently, the interest rate may have fully priced in policy and fundamental disturbances. The pattern of weak fundamentals and weak financing demand remains unchanged, and the further upward space of the bond market may be limited [3]. - Historically, the bond market often declines in Q4, and credit spreads usually fluctuate. This year, due to weak bond fund returns and the importance of Q4 performance for the whole - year product performance, market gaming will be more intense, increasing market volatility. For credit bonds in Q4, it is still recommended to focus on coupons, be cautious about duration, and conduct periodic gaming [4][5]. - For different bond varieties, 2 - year short - term bonds are still a solid base and may perform well in the short - term after the holiday. Trading opportunities for secondary and perpetual bonds have emerged again, requiring quick entry and exit in the short - term, and depending on interest rate trends in the long - term. Institutions with unstable liability ends should be cautious about ultra - long - term credit bonds, but their trading volume has increased and shareholding banks have net - bought, indicating a recovery in allocation value, and trading strategies can be tried cautiously [6]. Group 3: Summary by Related Catalogs 1.1 How was the performance in Q3? - The bond market was affected by anti - involution policies, the stock market, and new fund redemption rules, showing a continuous upward trend. In July, anti - involution policies were further implemented, and the bond market rose significantly; in August, the stock market rose strongly, suppressing bond market sentiment; in September, new fund redemption rules were introduced, and various news such as good industrial enterprise profits in August, progress in Sino - US negotiations, and the cancellation of fund tax exemption impacted the market [13]. - The Q3 adjustment showed characteristics of more long - end adjustments, fewer short - end adjustments, fewer low - grade credit adjustments, slightly more high - grade credit adjustments, more adjustments in secondary and perpetual bonds, and fewer adjustments in general credit bonds [15]. - In terms of investment returns, 2 - year and shorter - term credit bonds performed well with positive returns, while bonds with a maturity of 3 years or more had poor investment returns, and the longer the maturity, the worse the performance. For example, the investment return of the 30 - year treasury bond in Q3 was only - 7.818% [19]. 1.2 Will the downward trend continue? - In August, the year - on - year growth rate of industrial enterprise profits was 20.4%, mainly driven by industries such as power, heat production and supply, and metal smelting and processing. However, the sustainability of the profit recovery is limited due to factors such as the continuous decline in futures prices and weak social demand. The growth rates of both social financing and core social financing are declining, and the further upward space of the social financing growth rate is limited [21]. - Currently, the market interest rate has fully reflected the marginal changes in fundamentals and inflation. Considering the term spread of interest - rate bonds and the comparison between long - term interest rates and certificates of deposit, the further upward space of interest rates is limited, and there may be a downward trend at the end of the year [22][31]. 1.3 How to view credit spreads? - If interest rates do not rise further, credit spreads will likely fluctuate. Historically, credit spreads in Q4 mostly fluctuate. If the capital interest rate can remain stable, the pricing logic system of capital - certificates of deposit - credit will be more stable. Currently, the comparison between medium - term notes and certificates of deposit has risen significantly but is expected to fall back, and the term spread of credit bonds has reached a relatively high level in the past two years and is expected to have limited further upward space [35][40]. 1.4 How to understand the seasonality of the bond market and institutional psychology? - The bond market tends to decline in Q4. In the past 9 years from 2016 to now, interest - rate bonds rose only in 2016, 2017, and 2022, and declined in other years. Credit bonds generally perform worse than interest - rate bonds of the same maturity in Q4. This year, due to the poor performance of medium - and long - term bond funds, market gaming in Q4 will be more intense, increasing market volatility. Products with good performance may focus on controlling drawdowns, while those under performance pressure may more aggressively play the long - duration strategy [43][47][49]. 1.5 How to construct a portfolio? - Medium - and short - term credit bonds should still focus on defense. Holding credit bonds with a maturity of less than 2 years until the end of Q4 can withstand an upward range of more than 30bp, and appropriate credit risk exposure can also lead to good coupon performance [52]. - Ultra - long - term credit bonds: Their credit spreads are close to the high point in the past two years, and their trading volume has increased, and shareholding banks have net - bought, indicating that they have allocation value. Currently, the comparison between secondary and perpetual bonds and general credit bonds has risen to a high level, presenting trading opportunities [56][58][59]. 2.1 It is recommended to focus on medium - and long - term secondary and perpetual bonds - At the end of September, the comparison between 5 - year secondary and perpetual bonds and medium - term notes rose rapidly. The comparison advantages of 5 - year secondary capital bonds of all grades over 5 - year medium - term notes increased significantly, and the comparisons of AAA, AA +, and AA grades are currently 9.96bp, 9.08bp, and 4.08bp respectively, still at a high level this year. The comparisons of 1 - year secondary bonds of all grades with medium - term notes are all negative [63]. - The comparison between short - end urban investment bonds and medium - term notes has declined significantly, breaking through the low point of the year, and the cost - performance of medium - and low - grade bonds is relatively low, so entry still needs to wait. The comparison between long - end weak - quality urban investment bonds and medium - term notes has increased [65]. 2.2 Focus on high - coupon assets with a maturity of about 2 years - Currently, the proportion of urban investment bonds with a valuation of over 2.3% is 38.0%, that of non - financial industrial bonds is 24.5%, and that of secondary and perpetual bonds is 33.3%. Bonds with a maturity of about 2 years and a valuation of over 2.3% have good value and are worth attention [67]. - For urban investment bonds, long - end bonds can combine coupon and band operations, and short - duration high - coupon varieties can still be participated in. It is recommended to focus on bonds with a maturity of about 2 years issued by companies such as Xi'an High - tech, Henan Aviation Port, and Zhuhai Huafa [68]. - For industrial bonds, among real - estate enterprises, it is recommended to focus on bonds of important local state - owned real - estate enterprises with a maturity of about 2 years, such as Shoukai, Jianfa, and CCCC Real Estate. Among non - real - estate industrial entities, focus on bonds with a maturity of less than 2 years issued by enterprises such as Jizhong Energy and AVIC Industry Finance, and bonds with a maturity of about 2 years issued by enterprises such as HBIS and Yunnan Investment [72]. 3.1 How was the market performance? - On September 29 - 30, credit bonds generally recovered, and spreads generally widened. Credit bond yields declined slightly, with short - end secondary and perpetual bonds performing more significantly, while 10Y secondary and perpetual bonds continued to rise. Credit spreads widened overall, and the spreads of secondary and perpetual bonds showed a differentiated trend, with short - end spreads declining and long - end spreads widening [74].