most individuals invest in debt products like fixed maturity plans fmps capital protectionoriented funds and taxfree bonds at the time of new fund offers by mutual funds similarly they invest in nonconvertible debentures or ncds during the public issue of bonds in the primary market but most investors dont know that they can pick up these products from the secondary market from stock exchanges in common lingo after these products are closed for subscription in fact investors can buy these products at a discount to their face value or their nav from the secondary market for example the units of franklin templeton fixed tenure fund series 12 ftftf12cdv are available at rs 967 on the stock exchange at a discount of about 11 to the net asset value nav of the scheme of rs 1081 similarly iifl fmps1g an fmp from india infoline mutual fund is quoting at rs 1011 or at 56 discount to its nav of rs 107 an ncd of shriram transport finance n9 is available at rs 990 a discount to face value of rs 1000 but dont rush to pick up these instruments from the secondary market before you understand how they work you need to understand how many days are left for the scheme to mature see the coupon rate and market price based on these factors you need to calculate the returns before deciding on buying says vikram dalal managing director synergee capital look at the discount or premium you are paying liquidity the credit rating and the management in case of an ncd and the portfolio quality in case of an fmp or capital protectionoriented fund says ajay manglunia senior vicepresident fixed income edelweiss capital doing the math units are typically issued at face value of rs 1000 in a new issue of an ncd and the coupon rate and tenure of the instrument are mentioned in the form that means you have a clear idea of how much you can earn from the ncd at the time of investing in it however while buying it from the secondary market all you have is its market price for example consider the ncd of lt finance n3 option the public issue of this ncd happened in september 2009 with a tenure of 88 months the ncd with a face value of rs 1000 matures in january 2017 at rs 2005 offering a return of 995 this ncd is currently traded at rs 1350 in the secondary market now the big question should you pick it up work with the numbers to find an answer consider the facts you are buying an ncd today for rs 1350 which will mature in 2017 and fetch you rs 2005 that means you will get around 975 if you hold on to the ncd till maturity that looks like a good number but what are your other options available in the secondary market for example iiflfmp s1g an fmp from