Reinvestment Meaning

  • Investors mainly use reinvestment to increase the portfolio’s value by concentrating all the funds into one particular investment; when the price of security surges, the portfolio’s value shoots up accordingly.Reinvestment can also be used in the context where a business is reinvesting the profits to expand the company further or investing in any technological advancements from a long-term perspective.Reinvestment can be done with any type of assets like stocks, mutual fundsMutual FundsA mutual fund is a professionally managed investment product in which a pool of money from a group of investors is invested across assets such as equities, bonds, etcread more, bondsBondsBonds refer to the debt instruments issued by governments or corporations to acquire investors’ funds for a certain period.read more, ETFETFAn exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a security that contains many types of securities such as bonds, stocks, commodities, and so on, and that trades on the exchange like a stock, with the price fluctuating many times throughout the day when the exchange-traded fund is bought and sold on the exchange.read more, or any instrument which gives periodic returns, and the proceeds can be used to reinvest.There are other factors involved in reinvestment riskReinvestment RiskReinvestment risk refers to the possibility of failing to induce the profits earned or cash flows into the same scheme, financial product or investment. It even states the uncertainty of not getting the similar returns when such funds are invested in a new investment opportunity.read more and interest rate riskInterest Rate RiskThe risk of an asset’s value changing due to interest rate volatility is known as interest rate risk. It either makes the security non-competitive or makes it more valuable. read more when the money is invested back in buying the same securities.

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Two Factors of Reinvestment

Let us discuss these two factors briefly:

#1 – Risk

  • There is always a risk of downside in any investment, and the investor won’t be able to reinvest at the current rate of return; in this case, the risk is exponentiated since the investment is multifold. For instance, Microsoft issues callable bondsCallable BondsA callable bond is a fixed-rate bond in which the issuing company has the right to repay the face value of the security at a pre-agreed-upon value prior to the bond’s maturity. This right is exercised when the market interest rate falls.read more at the coupon rate of 6% per annum; however, the market interest rate reduces to 4%.So, now the company can borrow money at a lower rate from the market by issuing another callable bond at 4%. If the investor had decided to reinvest at 6%, then the investor loses the opportunity to earn as the company repays the coupon and principal invested.Reinvestment risk is comparatively low in non-callable bonds as the decision to call off the bonds is not dependent on the company, and investors have locked a fixed amount of funds with the company.A Portfolio of mixed instruments helps to reduce the reinvestment risk, like investing in bonds with different maturities, bonds with different interest rates, and so on.A fund manager assists in mitigating the risk and allocate the funds appropriately to the respective investments. However, there are always products in the market which provide ease of reinvestment like high yield funds such as Vanguard High Dividend Yield Fund (VHDYX), which gives high yields.This fund performance is linked to the FTSE indexFTSE IndexFTSE Indices, also known as Financial Times Stock Exchange Indices, represent the share index of the Global Financial Markets calculated by evaluating the market capitalization of the companies covered by the FTSE Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange.read more and offers a proper reinvestment plan to the investors. However, market risk and falling yields are some risks that are totally unavoidable.

#2 – Interest Rate

  • Every other investment bears returns based on the interest rate, so the reinvestment rate is the rate at which money can be earned by investing in another fixed-income instrument other than the current one.Anticipated interest rates for investment by any investor play a vital role; for instance, if the interest rate increases, the price of the bond tend to fall, and the individual loses the value of the principal and also makes less money than the current market rate, so a person faces interest rate risk for his reinvestment.

How to Calculate the Reinvestment Rate?

Difference Between Dividend Reinvestments vs Dividends

Broadly, when an investor invests in mutual funds, he gets to select which plan he opts to invest in, i.e., Dividend plan or Dividend Reinvestment plan, so let us see which plan is better from the return perspective.

  • Dividend Plan – In this plan, an investor gets all his dividends in cash as per the fund units he owns, and accordingly, the Net asset valueNet Asset ValueNet Asset Value is calculated by subtracting the total value of the entity’s liabilities from the total value of its assets and dividing the result by the total number of outstanding shares.read more of the fund goes down proportionately with the amount paid for the dividendDividendDividends refer to the portion of business earnings paid to the shareholders as gratitude for investing in the company’s equity.read more. So, an investor whose daily values NAV of the portfolio notices a significant drop in the value of their portfolio.Dividend Reinvestment Plan – This is a hybrid plan where the dividend units are invested back into the same fund; this not only increases the NAV of the fund but also increases the compounded rate of return from the fund.

So, it depends on the type of investor and the market so as to which plan will suit well as per the investment needs of the investor.

  • Also, it depends on the type of investment you are looking for that is short term or long term. If the investment is short-term, then it is always beneficial to opt for cash dividendsCash DividendsCash dividend is that portion of profit which is declared by the board of directors to be paid as dividends to the shareholders of the company in return to their investments done in the company. Such a dividend payment liability is then discharged by paying cash or through bank transfer.read more to enjoy the cash reward; however, if the investment is long-term, it’s advisable to go for a reinvestment plan.This plan will help you to earn a handsome return rate over a certain period, and also the money invested will grow at a compounded rate utilizing the number of years of the investment.

Conclusion

Reinvestment is a well-known phenomenon in the investment industry, where if certain risks are accounted for in a calculative way can yield exponential returns. Certain factors definitely need to be analyzed before opting for this plan; it should certainly be applied to the top-rated investment instruments where the credibility of the issuer can be banked.

This has been a guide to what reinvestment is and its meaning. Here we discuss how to calculate the reinvestment rate along with its two factors (risk and interest rate). You can more about finance from the following articles –

  • Types of Investment RiskCall RiskPortfolio Investment TypesHigh Yield Investments Definition