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IFR Asia Dim Sum Bonds Roundtable 2012: Participants

Dim Sum Bonds Roundtable participants (from left to right) Ivan Chung Moody’s Investors Service Senior Analyst Christopher Lee Standard & Poor’s Managing Director, Corporate Ratings John Ho Hong Kong and China Gas Co Chief Financial Officer Steve Garton IFR Asia Editor Francis Ho CLP Holdings Treasurer Michael Lam Deutsche Bank Director, Fixed Income Capital Markets, Asia Angus Hui Schroders Investment Management Fund Manager Gina Tang HSBC Head of Greater China Debt Capital Markets Philip Li China Chengxin (Asia Pacific) Credit Ratings...Read more

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IFR Asia Dim Sum Bonds Roundtable 2012: Part 1

IFR: Welcome. Has the Dim Sum bond lost some of its appeal? Over the last 18 months, Dim Sum bonds have been horrible investments, haven’t they? Angus Hui: I wouldn’t say that, but there have been some interesting developments. We’ve gone from expectations of 3%–4% appreciation a year ago to pretty much flat against the dollar. Clearly, some investors got into Dim Sum bonds purely on expectations of currency appreciation rather than for the bond side. So, certainly some of that at interest has been reduced. However, we also saw a huge...

IFR Asia Dim Sum Bonds Roundtable 2012: Part 2

IFR: John, when you came to market with your two deals, were they individually rated? John Ho: Well, ratings weren’t really the point. The first one was done by HSBC and, really, I think the terms were already set before we asked the rating agency to rate it. HSBC felt confident it could distribute that amount of money. The key really is the supply and demand. I mean, for people like Angus as an investor, they see it as low risk; they see it as appreciation on the renminbi. From our side, the way I look at it is the tenor, the cost, the size....

IFR Asia Dim Sum Bonds Roundtable 2012: Part 3

IFR: We mentioned swaps before. Is there a sweet spot there? Are there any limits? Michael Lam: The swap market is developing, but, to get to a point that can support a large number of international borrowers, the pool just needs to be larger. Right now, Deutsche Bank would be very happy to provide a deliverable swap between dollars and CNH out to five years, and selectively out to 10 years. However, the bulk of the liquidity is focused on one to three years. Certainly, the market is there for Rmb1bn, but that’s not too big. “Hong Kong can be...

IFR Asia Dim Sum Bonds Roundtable 2012: Part 4

IFR: Let’s turn that question back on the investor base. Angus, presumably you look at the overall rating, rather than the standalone, don’t you? Angus Hui: I’d say it’s a bit of both. At the end of the day, the probability of default is the ultimate question. So, we can’t ignore government support from a pricing aspect, but also expectation of credit quality does change. In some cases, government support may come at a late stage. I don’t want to name it, but, in Hong Kong a couple of years ago, there was a case where the credit quality was...