Q: What is a Tenor?

T-Bills are issued for a specific period usually 91-day (3 months), 182-day (6 months) and 364-day (one year) tenors in the primary market. The rates on T-Bills are quoted annually; as a result, an investor gets the full rate only if the tenor is up to 364 days. For instance, if the rate on a 182-day T-bills is quoted at 1 0%, the investor effectively gets 5%. However, in the secondary market, T-Bills can be bought at irregular tenors ranging from 1-363 days.