Engagement high as Australia's corporate bond market takes forward step
Participants at KangaNews's Corporate Bond Summit, which took place in Sydney on October 29, say the local corporate bond market has reached a new level of functionality in 2013. Confidence is high, and while challenges remain the eyes of issuers and investors are now on broadening and deepening the market rather than ascertaining its relevance.
AOFM's secondary activity continues role of supporting RMBS market
On October 29 the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM) announced the sale of some holdings of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) issued by ING Bank Australia in 2011 and 2012. The AOFM tells KangaNews the sale was conducted in order to assist secondary market price discovery.
Read more: AOFM's secondary activity continues role of supporting RMBS market
Mercer pension index says lack of mandatory retirement income stream hurts Australia
The 2013 Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index, which surveys and ranks the pension systems of 20 nations, suggests the greatest weakness of the Australian setup is its insufficient incentive or mandate to convert retirement benefits into income streams. Overall, Australia's pension system ranks third among its international peers in the Mercer study, despite scoring just two marks out of 10 in the income-stream area.
Investors turn out in droves to support Aurizon Network debut
Aurizon Network (BBB+/Baa1) says it selected the local market for its record-breaking capital markets debut because it was competitive with offshore alternatives. Meanwhile, Australia's domestic investors attribute the solid demand with which the deal was met to the relative scarcity of non-financial Australian dollar issuance.
Washington supras emphasise remoteness from US debt standoff
Supranational entities in which the US holds substantial equity stakes insist the ongoing US legislative showdown, which could in a worst-case scenario cause a technical default on US sovereign debt, will not significantly affect their status. The issuers also say their investors have not raised questions about any potential impact of the US situation on supranationals' creditworthiness.