Fixed Income is a category of investments where you lend your money to a bank, a company, or the government, and get back the amount invested plus interest, with the return rules defined at the moment you invest. That's where the name "fixed" comes from: you know from day one how your money will earn.
There are three types of rates:
Fixed rate: the rate is set at the moment of purchase (e.g., 12% per year).
Floating rate: earns a percentage of an indicator, usually the CDI or the Selic (e.g., 105% of CDI) – the return tracks the economy's interest rates.
Hybrid: combines a fixed rate with inflation (e.g., IPCA + 6% per year).
For reference, CDI is the interbank reference rate, which tracks the Selic closely – Brazil's base interest rate set by the Central Bank. It's the main benchmark for floating rate investments. IPCA is the country's official inflation index.
What assets are available at ARQ?
All securities available for investment can be found in the Save tab, by clicking on Invest button. For each security you'll find: issuer, rate, maturity date, liquidity, minimum amount, and taxation. The list changes frequently – securities depend on issuer availability, and offers may sell out or be replaced throughout the day.
The following types of securities are available:
CDB (Certificado de Depósito Bancário): You lend money to a bank, which uses those funds to finance its activities. Earnings are subject to income tax, and the security is covered by the FGC.
LCI (Letra de Crédito Imobiliário): A security issued by banks to finance the real estate sector. The big advantage is that individuals are exempt from income tax. This is also covered by the FGC.
LCA (Letra de Crédito do Agronegócio): Same as the LCI, but the funds finance agribusiness. Also exempt from income tax for individuals and covered by the FGC.
CRI (Certificado de Recebíveis Imobiliários): A security issued by securitization companies, backed by future payments from the real estate sector (rents, mortgage installments). Exempt from income tax for individuals. Unlike the LCI, it is not covered by the FGC.
CRA (Certificado de Recebíveis do Agronegócio): Same as the CRI, but backed by agribusiness receivables. Also exempt from income tax for individuals and not covered by the FGC.
Debêntures: Debt securities issued by companies to finance their projects. They usually pay higher rates than bank-issued securities, reflecting the issuer's risk. These are not covered by the FGC.
Tesouro Direto: You lend to the Federal Government. There are fixed-rate bonds (Tesouro Prefixado), floating-rate bonds (Tesouro Selic), and hybrid bonds (Tesouro IPCA+). Earnings are subject to income tax.