Issuance in Formosa bonds has crashed following regulatory changes, but insurers still desperately need higher-yielding products to meet their obligations to policy holders.
Jackie Horne
The private equity firm and sovereign wealth fund took advantage of strong bond markets to raise funds to pay themselves a special dividend in an Indian outsourcing company.
Malaysia is set to overtake the Middle East as the global hub for Islamic investments in terms of assets under management. What can Gulf countries do to counter this trend?
Malaysian asset managers' share of global sharia-compliant funds could overtake that of firms based in Saudi Arabia, according to AsianInvestor's annual ranking this year.
Regional investment heads at DBS and Lombard Odier say emerging markets are a better bet amid heightened political risk and uncompelling valuations in developed Europe.
In the second of two articles on the impact of Europe's incoming Mifid II rules, which will affect how fund managers pay for research, bank teams are seen to be under threat.
First State Stewart Asia has changed its approach to paying for research, in an early indication that asset managers in the region will not be immune from looming EU rules.
More and more institutions are entering the mainland debt market and a trading pattern is emerging, as the Bond Connect scheme and wider index inclusion loom closer.
Commodity prices are bouncing back, but will Asian asset owners now embrace an asset class they have long shunned? And is this the start of a new bull cycle, or a temporary rally?
Spreads are at historically tight levels, but portfolio managers believe asset allocators would be unwise to throw in the towel just yet.
Falling interest rates should be good news for India's prospective new asset class – infrastructure investment trusts – as long as issuers price the first few deals to perform.
However, they say Asian bond markets in general are likely to weather the rising trade tensions with the US better than many expect.
