🏦 IPCA+ Treasury (NTN-B / IMA-B)
Asset Guide · Inflation-linked fixed income
IPCA+ Treasury: always above inflation
A guaranteed above-inflation return, backed by the government. It's the retirement cornerstone for many investors.
What it really is
You lend money to the government
- Youstarting from about R$ 30
- Tesouro Diretovia your brokerage or bank
- Brazilian governmentissues bonds when it needs money
- Back to youthe period's inflation + a real rate
Buying a bond means lending money to the government and receiving interest in return. Tesouro Direto is Brazil's direct government bond platform.
Read the name
What "IPCA + a rate" means
- NTN-B · the bond's technical name
- IMA-B · index of these bonds
IMA-B: the daily "average price" of IPCA+ bonds, at market prices.
Key indicator today
A historically high real rate
IPCA + 7%
per year: close to the real rate on offer today
Locking in a real return of 7% above inflation for 10 or 20 years is one of the most generous windows a Brazilian investor can find.
The part that confuses people
The bond price moves every day
Interest rates rise
the price falls
- Your bond is worth less on your statement
- In the short term
Interest rates fall
the price rises
- Your bond is worth more
- You may even sell early at an extra profit
This is called mark-to-market.
The reassuring point
Hold to maturity and the deal stands
- 1 · At purchaseYou lock in the rateIPCA + 7%, for example
- 2 · Along the wayThe price fluctuatesit only matters if you need to sell early
- 3 · At maturityYou get exactly the contracted ratewhatever the price did in between
Who it's for
Where it makes sense and where to avoid it
Makes sense
long term
- High real rate on offer, as it is now
- You can hold to maturity
- Retirement, children's college fund, financial independence
Avoid
short term
- Money you might need to redeem at any time
- Emergency fund (in long-dated IPCA+)
- For that, use Cash/CDI
In the short term, mark-to-market could catch you at a bad moment.
How to invest in practice
Three simple steps
- Brokerage or bankthat's how you reach Tesouro Direto
- Pick the maturitythe date closest to your goal
- Low costno brokerage fee at most brokers; only B3's low fee
Remember this
Three ideas from this guide
- Inflation + a real rateYou lend to the government and never lose purchasing power.
- The price moves along the wayRates rise, the bond falls; rates fall, it rises. That's mark-to-market.
- Hold to maturityThen you get exactly the contracted rate. Pick the date by your goal.
Quick test · 1 of 2
Interest rates rose after you bought. What happens?
?
That's mark-to-market. The price falls in the short term, but if you hold the bond to maturity you receive exactly the rate locked in at purchase.
Quick test · 2 of 2
What money is long-dated IPCA+ Treasury NOT meant for?
?
An emergency fund must be available at any time. If you need to sell before maturity, mark-to-market could catch you at a bad moment. For that, use Cash/CDI.
Guide complete
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Photo: Senado Federal, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons