A well balanced investment portfolio typically has a bond component which will help to smooth out the volatility of the portfolio and gives investors some safe buffer to take advantage of any market correction or crash when it occurs, without needing the investor to top up the investment portfolio with cash. As the global economies move towards the more mature end of the economic cycle, it is often prudent to lock in the profits made during the better times and increase the allocation towards bonds.  However, in the current rising interest rate environment, the performance of bonds will be affected. So how can investors increase the returns of their bond in a rising interest rate environment and maintain the principle objective of a bond allocation as a form of safe haven? Decrease the duration of bond A bond is like a longer term fixed deposit, the longer the duration, the higher interest it will draw. However, as interest rate rises, the fixed deposit you invested in ...