Key regional participants from the sell-side, buy side and high-grade South Korean benchmark borrower Korea Export Import Bank were brought together for this year’s IFR Asia G3 bond roundtable, to discuss developments in the region’s public G3 markets (excluding Australia and Japan). It seems unlikely that Asia’s G3 primary public bond market will repeat the average 15% growth it has clocked up every year since the 1998 financial crisis when issuance plummeted to just US$15bn. Indeed with US$35bn of deals printed so far this year, the market is...Read more
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IFR Asia: It’s been about eight years since the end of the Asian financial crisis and the region has recovered better than anyone thought possible, with corporate balance sheets looking as healthy as they ever have. Why haven’t we seen more G3 issuance from the region, given the combination of positive sovereign ratings dynamics and strong credit stories among Asian companies?
IFR Asia: This brings us to another point regarding the secondary market in Asia. We increasingly see CDS as the means of expressing a view on credit and secondary trading seems to be limited basically to Korean names, the Philippines and Hutchison Whampoa. The rest of the market isn’t very liquid.
IFR Asia: Can I ask Jason if whether a deal is or isn’t bought is pertinent when you make an investment decision?
IFR Asia: Jason, how much credit work do you do on high yield deals? A lot of people are saying, “we look at the reds more closely post Ocean Grand”. Is there more focus on detail or is the big figure on the coupon all that matters? Are you demanding more in terms of covenants and in terms of structure when you look at high-yield now?