Asian investors' advice for Australian issuers

The Asian buy side wants clarity on issuance plans and deals to be designed with their preferences taken into account. By contrast, it does not require frequent updates outside of deal-related engagement.

DAVISON It’s easy to assume that the more engagement issuers offer investors the better. But today we have heard comments about investors not wanting constant roadshows unless an issuer has firm plans to bring a deal and is willing to allocate fairly to Asian accounts. What advice would Asian investors give Australian issuers that would like to build a non-opportunistic Asian investor base?

FUND MANAGER 4 As a credit analyst I think I get enough corporate access when I need it, via management, rating agencies and the like.

We sometimes see Australian issuers coming to us with very hypothetical issuance in mind – without any specification of currency or size. If they were able to be a bit more specific it would help.

In general, because we already have preliminary information about issuers they probably don’t have to come here very often just to help us understand their business profile. If they have a clear idea of what they want to do in the market, we can update about the company before we meet and then have discussions not only about business profile but about funding plans.

ERIC HA

"Australian issuers tend to like to do update calls. The Asian investment culture is not very receptive to these. I see the dial-in lists for these calls and while Australian accounts seem to be very used to them our Asian clients don’t typically participate."

ERIC HA WESTPAC INSTITUTIONAL BANK

FUND MANAGER 1 If issuers aren’t sure about currency, tenor or format, I’d suggest they come to some of the bigger accounts in the Asian market to discuss. We invest across a wide spectrum and we are happy to give issuers ideas and a more solid picture of where their orders might come from. Then they can go to the wider audience without wasting too much of the buy-side’s time.

HA Australian issuers tend to like to do update calls. The Asian investment culture is not very receptive to these. I see the dial-in lists for these calls and while Australian accounts seem to be very used to them our Asian clients don’t typically participate.

FUND MANAGER 3 Australian issuers benefit from a lot of structural demand as we have discussed, based on their high credit quality, corporate transparency and regional familiarity. The thing that has come up frequently at this discussion is, if you’re serious about trying to issue into Asia, please tailor what you are issuing to the demand side. You couldn’t ask for a more competitive set of advantages as an issuer.