BARRAS It’s a difficult question when you have as many names in your portfolio as we do. However, Australian issuers stand out – they take the time to come and meet us in person every year and do roadshows. We think the reporting packages are good and communication is generally timely, open and transparent.

I’ve been gratified today that many of the issuers here have said how much they appreciate going to a market that appears knowledgeable, where you can develop a relationship and talk on an equal footing. This interaction promotes continuity and ensures the issuer and investors are on the same page.
 
LYONS As a lender you are looking for transparency into your borrower. It’s absolutely key. over time, if you’re in this business long enough, you face management changes and borrowers moving to being more or less transparent.

Could there be too much communication? I’d say no. Frequency of contact, availability and transparency on both sides is what it’s all about. We don’t expect it to be all one-sided – most of the big USPP investors also try to get to Australia to visit issuers.

LYONS We don’t have an analyst team that is formally focused on Australasia. we do have analysts who cover the region. we keep in touch with these developments via a combination of continued contact with the borrower base, research, and our relationships with the banks. our model depends on the agents to develop this pipeline and help us understand what is coming.

BARRAS I agree. In many respects the agents are our eyes and ears. we have a substantial Australian portfolio, we know the companies in that portfolio very well and we know what’s going on in the market in general terms. But bankers are in tune and in touch with companies on a day-to-day basis. So they are in a better position than we are to source transactions and provide intelligence, particularly when you consider the logistical challenges.

BARRAS We like pre-deal roadshows. they are informative and that’s where we may be able to add more value and provide more certainty to the issuer. that said, what’s most important is what works best for the issuer.

LYONS We certainly want deal roadshows to turn into transactions. Having said this, you’re never poorly served by having conversations with issuers – you always learn something. Ee definitely like to see issuers before a transaction is actioned and ready to go. This could be via a pre-deal roadshow or from us being on the ground in Australia seeing some of the borrowers.

We like to see developing opportunities coming forward because our market is dependent on new issuers as there will always be companies graduating to the public markets. To keep the market at size you have to have new folks coming in. It’s incumbent on us to spend some time to get to know them.

At the end of the day, we depend on the agents to dig 19 dry holes to find the one that has the deal in it. But this doesn’t mean we can’t help them dig those holes.