keeping the standard
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group strengthened its position as the go-to Antipodean bond house with another dominant performance on both sides of the Tasman Sea.
ANZ negotiated a choppy start to 2019 for the Australian dollar market, which lost its absolute yield advantage over the US dollar, before taking advantage of a surge in semi-government, corporate and financial issuance.
“The market picked up from late February, before APRA’s July ruling triggered a surge in bank supply, a large proportion of which was executed by ANZ as we strived to hold our leadership position,” said ANZ’s global head of syndication, Paul White.
ANZ extended its lead in the Australian dollar bond table with 77 trades, excluding self-led issues, during the review period for a 18.6% share of the A$93.0bn (US$63.7bn) market, well above its 13.3% market share a year previously.
Tumbling risk-free returns, as the Reserve Bank of Australia cut its benchmark cash rate to a record low 0.75%, prompted a move along the yield curve to satisfy investors’ ongoing search for yield.
The upturn in long-dated supply was especially notable in the semi-government segment, where supply was elevated by huge infrastructure spends and reduced privatisation receipts after state utility sales dried up.
ANZ was a joint lead on 14 issues, with standout transactions including a A$2.75bn 12-year from Queensland, the largest semi print since 2011, and New South Wales’ A$1.8bn March 2025 sustainability bond.
Australia’s top bookrunner was very active in the busy corporate sector, arranging a wide spread of offerings along the credit curve.
Highlights ranged from a A$1.4bn four-part Kangaroo for McDonald’s to Woolworths’ A$400m five-year green debut and Virgin Australia’s A$250m high-yield five-year, sold to historically risk-averse Australian real money accounts.
ANZ made inroads into its A$12.1bn extra Tier 2 requirement, breaking local records with a self-led A$1.75bn 10-year non-call five before helping arrange a €1bn Sustainable Development Goal Tier 2 Eurobond with an identical structure.
It helped regional and mutual financial institutions from Suncorp and Macquarie to Newcastle Permanent to Credit Union Australia raise almost A$7.7bn locally.
ANZ also brought 10 international banks Down Under for senior unsecured, TLAC and Additional Tier 1 issues.
As well as being the number one domestic bookrunner for SSA Kangaroos, ANZ held on to its third place in securitisations, despite continuing to steer clear of the large non-conforming RMBS market.
Across the ditch ANZ headed the New Zealand table for an astonishing 13th successive year with a market share of 32.6%, having helped manage 33 of 46 domestic and Kauri bond issues.
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