Treasury Inflation Protected Securities - TIPS

通胀保护债券

TIPS（Treasury Inflation Protected Securities）债券又称通胀膨胀保护债券，是一类与通货膨胀指数相关联的债券。其发展历史比较短，于1997年1月15日由美国财政部首次发行，规模为70亿美元。正如起名，TIPS南于在规避通胀风险的独特条款设计，自发行起就倍受投资者重视，截止2004年底。TIPS发行规模已达2230亿美元。通货膨胀历来是经济理论和实践上高度关注的经济指标，特别是自2004年以来，油价上涨、就业高企、物价指数上涨，市场普遍产生通胀预期，规避通胀风险的动机越发明显，TIPS债券市场的交易日益活跃。

A treasury security that is indexed to inflation in order to protect investors from the negative effects of inflation. TIPS are considered an extremely low-risk investment since they are backed by the U.S. government and since their par value rises with inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, while their interest rate remains fixed. Interest on TIPS is paid semiannually. TIPS can be purchased directly from the government through the TreasuryDirect system in $100 increments with a minimum investment of $100 and are available with 5-, 10-, and 20-year maturities.

Because a TIPS bond's semiannual inflation adjustments are considered taxable income by the IRS even though investors don’t see that money until they sell the bond or it reaches maturity, some investors prefer to get TIPS through a TIPS mutual fund or only hold them in tax-deferred retirement accounts to avoid tax complications.
Purchasing TIPS directly, however, allows investors to avoid the management fees associated with mutual funds. TIPS are also valuable because they are exempt from state and local income taxes.