Simply speaking, current yield reflects what your bond assets are paying while yield to maturity indicates what they are earning. Current yield reflects the cash flow received from your investment and is a function of the coupon of the bond and the market price of the bond. The yield to maturity is the annual rate of return that is anticipated over the life of the investment and includes amortization of any premium or accretion of any discount from par, coupon payments and reinvestment of the coupons. An important assumption in the determination of this return, however, is that the rate at which the coupons are reinvested is at the yield to maturity rate. Duration, in layman's terms, is a mathematical calculation that quantifies the principal risk of a portfolio for a given change of interest rates.
Aggressive managers tend to extend portfolio duration's and accept lower credit quality.
They typically perform well in bull markets and poorly in bear markets. Defensive managers significantly restrict portfolio duration and tend to perform very well in bear markets and poorly in bull markets. Neutral managers structure portfolios with moderate duration risk and tend to provide average returns in both bull and bear markets. C.W. Henderson is a defensively styled money manager. Hospital and Non-rated Nursing Home bonds all may be rated Aaa due to bond insurance, each insured bond trades differently in the secondary market based on the credit quality of the issuer, irrespective of insurance.