In Friday’s NY market, the S&P 500 was at 7,659, down -1.09%. The VIX volatility index jumped +21% in a single day to 19.99. It has quietly fallen 2.4% from its all-time high of 7,844.
Meanwhile, the US 10-year Treasury yield is 5.08%, and the Japanese 10-year bond is 2.94%. The sentiment of “wanting to hold bonds when stocks crash” has increased dramatically over the past few weeks.
That is why a strategy long used by the wealthy has been using securities-backed loans to leverage bonds by 2, 3, or 4 times. You borrow money using the bonds you own as collateral, use those funds to buy more bonds, and then use those as collateral again—.
Do you have questions like these?
・Can you really buy more bonds using securities-backed loans like the Nomura Web Loan?
・Which brokerage firms offer this, and under what conditions (domestic vs. international)?
・How much yield do you get if you leverage up to 4 times?
・Where is the line for forced liquidation due to a “collateral shortfall” during a market crash?
I have been burned by leverage in stocks many times myself. That is precisely why this time, instead of a “get-rich-quick” story, I decided to determine with numbers at what interest rate borrowing becomes a loss regardless of the leverage level.
What you will learn in this article
・The mechanism of 2 to 4-times leveraged bond strategies and the maximum leverage for each collateral ratio
・A comparison of conditions (interest rates, collateral ratios, and use of funds) for four domestic brokerage firms and loan services that actually allow this
・Examples of international patterns (Lombard loans from Swiss and Singaporean private banks, and margin trading with overseas online brokerages)
・After-tax yield simulations for 1 to 4-times leverage with 10 million yen of initial capital
・The threshold where a margin call is triggered by a 10% yen appreciation and a 1% interest rate hike
・The truth contrary to conventional wisdom: Why the idea that “US Treasuries protect you during a crash” only applies halfway to Japanese investors
Basic data for the free area (closing prices as of October 16, 2026)
・US 10-year Treasury yield: 5.08% / Japanese 10-year bond yield: 2.94%
・USD/JPY: 157.97 yen
・FRB policy rate: 3.75–4.00% (rate hike in September) / BOJ policy rate: 1.25% (rate hike in September)
・Nomura Web Loan applicable interest rate: 2.65% per annum (variable, applied October 15)
・Examples of collateral ratios: Japanese government bonds 80%, US Treasury bonds 75% (Tokai Tokyo Securities), foreign bonds 60% (Nomura)
Recommended for people who:
・Hold or are considering purchasing several million to tens of millions of yen in bonds
・Want to increase their bond ratio in preparation for a stock market crash but find the yields insufficient
・Want to decide whether or not they should use a securities-backed loan
Not recommended for: People who want to aim for a quick turnaround using borrowed money. The conclusion of this article may be that it is “unnecessary for most individuals.”
From this point on, I will dissect this using real financial institutions and concrete numbers.
👇 Continue in the paid area