Online articles

• Asia delivers scale

  Pricing became challenging for Australian issuers in the Asian-targeted US dollar Reg S market later in the first half of 2018, after a flurry of corporate transactions over the preceding 12 months. But market participants in Asia insist the regional liquidity pool will increasingly challenge old favourites like US private placements (USPPs) and domestic issuance for Australian-origin flow.

• Funding growth in Victoria

  Tim Pallas, Melbourne-based treasurer of the state of Victoria, has been in the fortunate position of overseeing what is arguably Australia’s best-performing state economy from a budgetary perspective. In the wake of the state’s 2018/19 budget, Pallas discusses Victoria’s infrastructure and operating-cost plans, and how it intends to fund them.

• Global green-bond market prepares for leap to mainstream

  Scaling up and broadening supply through globally harmonised issuance standards will be a key goal for the international green-bond industry in the coming years, according to market participants at the leading international forum for the sector. Asia’s significance as a source and target of issuance is only set to grow.

• Global high-grade debt as the world changes

  While markets have remained liquid and tradeable throughout 2018, there can be little doubt that the period of almost unprecedented beneficial funding conditions that pervaded up to the end of 2017 has passed. At their annual global-markets roundtable in London in June, ANZ and KangaNews heard the latest thinking from key issuer and investor players.

• Green mortgages and the future of sustainable funding

  The key to unlocking a new level of green issuance in the Australian bond market could be a deeper understanding of the assets on banks’ balance sheets. Institutional assets lend themselves to classification and verification, while the potential of SME and household loans remains almost untapped.

• High-grade demand in a rising rates world

  The big story in the Australian dollar high-grade market in 2018 has been 10-year US Treasuries (USTs) consistently yielding more than the equivalent Australian Commonwealth government bonds (ACGBs) – with little prospect of a reversion. KangaNews spoke to a range of dealers in June to get their read.

• Housing New Zealand plays the long game

  New Zealand’s semi-government market received a significant boost in the May 2018 budget when the government mandated a further uplift to Housing New Zealand (Housing NZ)’s home-building programme. The agency’s Auckland-based chief executive, Andrew McKenzie, and Wellington-based treasurer, Sam Direen, share insights into the financing mandate, funding strategy and commitment to the New Zealand bond market.

• Issuer insights on Ausgrid’s latest wave of deal action

  Ausgrid Finance (Ausgrid) added to its landmark US private placement (USPP) and Australian domestic deals from 2017 in April, with a €650 million (US$793.6 million) and a dual-tranche US$1 billion 144A/Reg S transaction. Michael Bradburn, chief financial officer at Ausgrid in Sydney, shares exclusive insights on pricing objectives, market selection and sentiment with KangaNews.

• KangaNews Fixed-Income Research Poll 2018: results announced

  The results of the eighth iteration of the KangaNews Fixed-Income Research Poll, the only independent, specialist poll of fixed-income investors' views on research in the Australian market, are supported by a record number of responses for the third consecutive year in 2018. More than 100 qualifying votes were received from institutional investors. KangaNews is pleased to reveal the full suite of 2018's winners.

• Leading from the front

  In the 2018 iteration of the KangaNews Fixed-Income Research Poll, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CommBank) maintained the dominant position it has established in recent years. The CommBank team sat down with KangaNews to reflect on the market-shaping factors of the past 12 months and to reveal the main watch points.

• London call-in

  Engagement with international investors is a significant – and growing – focus for Australian securitisers. The Australian Securitisation Forum’s annual showcase returned to London on 4 June, giving Australian issuers and intermediaries a chance to discuss the state of the local product and market with European investors.

• New Zealand’s green-bond potential

  New Zealand’s green-bond market is still in its infancy, but green issuance could be a natural fit for some of the biggest sectors of the economy. While market participants work to facilitate labelled issuance, domestic investors say they are already well advanced in factoring environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into their portfolios.

• On the WA up

  The end of Australia’s resources-sector investment boom was not kind to its most commodities-exposed state, Western Australia (WA). But with a new government in place since 2017, WA’s Perth-based treasurer, Ben Wyatt, is happy to agree with the analyst consensus that the state’s financial situation is now on a positive trajectory.

• Queensland sticks to its guns

  Jackie Trad, Queensland’s deputy premier and treasurer, says building infrastructure to support future growth is a key budget priority. But, she adds, having a sound budgetary base is the only way to deliver what the state needs in a responsible manner.

• Reach out (or be where)?

  Having recently spent some time in Asia talking to advocates of the burgeoning regional credit market, I was struck by some contrasts with Australia. It occurs to me that local issuers and investors will need to engage with Asia sooner rather than later or run the risk of their home jurisdiction becoming increasingly marginalised.

• Strong ties in a changing world

  The Australian Office of Financial Management hosted its fourth Australian Government Fixed-Income Forum in Tokyo in June. The event has grown significantly since its debut in 2013, with close to a hundred local investors attending in 2018. KangaNews was the only media organisation present, and is pleased to share a flavour of this important investor-relations project.

• TCorp sets out its priorities

  New South Wales Treasury Corporation (TCorp) revealed a A$6.6 billion (US$4.9 billion) term-funding requirement for the 2018/19 financial year on 19 June, in the wake of the New South Wales (NSW) state budget. Fiona Trigona, head of funding and balance sheet, and Katherine Palmer, senior manager, funding and balance sheet at TCorp in Sydney, lay out the state’s priorities for the coming year – which include a debut...

• The role of green bonds in making an impact

  To truly understand the value of green bonds – and counter the cynic’s objection that they are little more than window dressing – it is necessary to take a historical perspective. By doing so, the nature and context of green-bond impact starts to reveal itself more clearly.