In Bonds It is of late that investment in bonds are made more accessible to the retail investor. Bond issued by statutory boards like the LTA, HDB were available. They were marketed at a time when interest rates were and are still low. The coupons, i.e. guaranteed pay outs semi-annually, were attractive compared to the bank deposit rates.
Bonds are basically debt instruments.
Government, statutory boards, companies can go to the public to borrow money by issuing bonds. This accounts for the volatility in the price of each of these types of investments. Bonds, historically, provide more stability in the investment portfolio compared to equities. The price that an investor pays for the bond fluctuates when interest rate changes as time goes by. Thus, if an investor were to sell a bond when interest rates are up, he may not recover his original investment.