how to invest in short term UK government bonds at x-o.co.uk brokers?

Question

I have some money idle at my x-o.co.uk ISA. as interest rates are quite healthy, I'd like to invest in UK government bonds of a few months terms.

no idea how to do this, as I'd need the ticker codes, and no idea how to find these.

I dont even know what the shortest terms you can invest for are, eg can you invest in say 1 month?

the only info I have on UK govt bonds is this URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/rates-bonds/government-bonds/uk

but this only gives 2 year as the shortest term, the thing is their US list shows 3 month and 6 month,

https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/rates-bonds/government-bonds/us

but I know the US also has 1 month not on their list, which has been above 5.5% in recent times, which is a healthy rate. their list also doesnt have 3 year, 7 year and 20 year which I know exist, but I dont know the ticker codes for. ie there are probably shorter term UK govt bonds not in the above list.

I would like to hold the bonds for the full term, eg say 1 month, and then reinvest them again and again, until I need the cash or decide to invest in shares.I dont know if I have to manually reinvest on each maturity, with maybe some days uninvested?

x-o are an execution only broker, and I asked them about this, and didnt get anything actionable.

they said I can invest in govt bonds, but I need to know the ticker codes.

preferably to know the ticker codes for free, I dont want to have to pay money just to find things to buy!

anyway, there are 3 main questions:

1. what are all the timescales of UK government bonds?
2. how do I find the ticker codes of these for investing at x-o.co.uk? (where my interest is in 1 month, or 2 month or 3 month, if these exist)
3. if the above are answered, can I automatically reinvest on maturity, or does this have to be done manually?

many thanks for any help,

Commenter

Answer 1

Here's where to find information about individual UK government bonds.

You can find all the Gilts (i.e. UK Government bonds) that are in issue at the Debt Management Office (DMO) website. In particular see Gilts in Issue and click on the "gilts in issue" link on that page for a particular date (you probably want to select today's date).

This gives you every gilt in issue (at the date entered). At this point in time there are two gilts that mature this year: 1% Treasury Gilt 22/04/2024; and 2¾% Treasury Gilt 07/09/2024. Make a note of the ISIN code (e.g. GB00BFWFPL34 and GB00BHBFH458).

Then go the the London Stock Exchange website and search for the ISIN code. On the page you find you will see the latest (15 min delays) bid/offer prices and the ticker code you are looking for. For the above examples that is TG24 and T24.

You will, of course, have to do the necessary due diligence to decide which, if any, gilts are appropriate to buy. Make sure you are happy with the price you are paying, the level of coupon, accrued interest that must be paid upon purchase and how indexation works if you want to use index-linked gilts.

Regarding your final questions

1. UK Gilts currently range from a few days to maturity all the way out to maturity in 2073. The range of Durations to Maturity will change as time goes by and when new gilts are issued.
2. See above for ticker codes
3. If an individual gilt is held to maturity I would expect you would have to handle re-investing manually.