Covered Bonds

After a remarkable year, GlobalCapital reflects on some of the most important stories in the bank finance and covered bond markets of 2020.

The European Central Bank's various purchase programmes are set to continue shaping covered bond issuance next year, but away from the reach of the ECB, more niche markets are expected to flourish. Collected below is a selection of GlobalCapital’s covered bond outlooks for next year.

Bank financing deals are expected to be on the low side in 2021, thanks to the provision of cheap, easily accessible central bank funding and high deposit inflows. Even so, regulatory funding is requisite and covered bonds will still provide an imperative source of long term funding, writes Bill Thornhill.

Banks are usually fast off the blocks in the January funding window, frontloading their most vanilla issuance and then picking their spots with strategic deals. Covid has put a different spin on the race in 2021, say syndicate officials. Hybrid capital and senior unsecured are likely to get off to a strong start before spreads catch up with economic reality later in the year.

The European Central Bank failed to provide the “big bazooka” that some capital market participants were hoping for at its meeting on Thursday. But the central bank did show its willingness to continue financing bank lending until the economy starts to recover, suggesting that FIG supply volumes face another difficult year in 2021.

Flughafen Zürich sold its first deal this week since it lost its double-A rating in July, finding the opportunity to price a Sfr200m bond at an “aggressive” level.

LBBW has hired Buck Khim Sim to join it primary markets team as part of its strategy to build up its presence in Asia.

The sustainable finance market clamoured for a Taxonomy to tell it what was green. Now it’s here, many are finding the answers constraining or simplistic. Alarmingly, the Taxonomy is also perpetuating the very thing it was supposed to root out — greenwashing.

Henrik Stille, senior portfolio manager at Nordea Asset Management, talked to GlobalCapital about the covered bond market and the incredible returns that his strategies have delivered this year, from traditional long-only solutions to innovative leveraged alternatives.

Covered bond participants will be looking eagerly to the European Central Bank’s policy meeting this Thursday in anticipation of a host of new stimulus measures, the most important of which is likely to be the targeted long term refinancing operation, where lower rates for longer are expected to impinge on supply.

Tight spreads, low yields and aggressive central bank action make covered bonds a 'low conviction' asset class, according to one major investor. But there is some scope for selective performance in relation to debut issuers and deals from Japan, where a legislative framework is hoped for.

Green bond specialists have criticised the buildings section of the European Union’s proposed sustainable finance taxonomy as impractical as it creates unhelpful incentives that exclude most bank financing, including green senior unsecured, RMBS and covered bonds.