New Zealand Local Government Funding Agency is confident about its ongoing Australian dollar issuance prospects despite expressing disappointment at the Reserve Bank of Australia process that saw the issuer initially granted repo eligibility before having that status withdrawn. The issuer believes the outcome highlights anomalies in the expanded list of assets eligible for repo in Australia but will not take its claims further.

The Australian Securitisation Forum’s 2023 annual conference attracted a record number of delegates – well over a thousand attended – and offered its most wide-ranging agenda ever. The securitisation industry has navigated higher rates and increasing global uncertainty well to date, with record volume printing in 2023 and a notable uptick in collateral diversity. The road ahead may be tricky but the market is facing it with confidence.

The 2023 Commonwealth Bank of Australia Global Markets Conference brought international investors to Australia at a fascinating juncture for the local economy and the fixed-income asset class. While the general view remains that the central bank hiking cycle is close to played out, the market is also coming to terms with the real consequences of a higher for longer environment. Australia is not fully insulated against cold global winds but it also has reasons for optimism.

The Australian securitisation market enjoyed a rebound year in 2023, printing record volume including an unprecedented level of collateral diversity and a notable uptick in bank issuance. It is not all plain sailing in the nonbank lender space, but origination conditions and the funding side appear to be improving.

The new governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Michele Bullock, has used her first public speech in the role to affirm its laser focus on inflation – noting that the other aspects of the bank’s mandate may be subordinate to, or have complementary outcomes with, inflation direction. Analaysts and markets largely view the central bank’s November cash rate decision as a line-ball call with the 25 October CPI print for Q3 likely to be a key input.

The Reserve Bank of Australia appears to be comfortable that rate hikes are transmitting more or less normally through the economy despite some abnormalities – such as the relatively higher proportion of fixed-rate mortgages going into the hiking cycle. While some lags remain in place, the suggestion is that the reserve bank is not expecting these to do much additional tightening work for it.

Conversations at the KangaNews Debt Capital Market Summit, which took place in Sydney on 20 March, naturally focused on the fallout from bank collapses that immediately preceded the event. The overall view was that relatively positive conditions in the fixed-income market would be reshaped but perhaps not fundamentally weakened by the emerging developments.

The Australian and New Zealand securitisation sector has grown significantly in recent years, driven by a proliferation of nonbank lenders. With rates rising for the first time in years and an economic downturn on the horizon, the market is readying itself for ongoing challenges. But participants at the Australian Securitisation Forum’s annual conference, which attracted a record attendance to Sydney at the end of 2022, say the industry is well positioned to manage them.

At the end of October 2022, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia Global Markets Conference returned to Sydney for the first time since the pandemic. The event presents a unique opportunity for international and local investors to hear about the economies and fixed-income markets of Australia and New Zealand.

The KangaNews Debt Capital Market Summit returned to Sydney as an in-person conference in May. Discussions covered a range of topics including rising inflation, central bank policy and trading in a highly volatile market. The increasing interest in environmental, social and governance issues was another talking point.