Covered Bonds

UK covered bonds looked cheap, said traders on Tuesday, especially relative to Canadian and Australian alternatives. Their views followed a report from Moody’s which said on Monday that UK banks’ credit fundamentals were resilient and their covered bond ratings well protected.

Covered bonds were steady on Monday, with spreads reacting stoically in the face of mounting volatility in the credit and equity markets, which were hit by fears over the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus. But with key covered bond investors only expected to return to their desks on Wednesday, following Germany’s carnival season, market participants remain braced for a delayed reaction in the asset class.

Intense demand in the Swiss franc bond market for any asset with a positive yield — or even anything yielding more than the penal negative rates on cash — gave a varied group of issuers this week execution that pushed the boundaries — bigger, faster and tighter.

Santander went up against Crédit Agricole with a 12 year covered bond on Thursday. Although the Spanish lender announced its deal after the French bank, a generous start ensured Santander sucked demand from the French deal, which was also hurt by a lower than expected European Central Bank order. Santander also issued a deeply negative yielding five year that attracted excellent demand.

Luminor Bank has mandated leads for the first covered bond from the Baltic region.

Crédit Agricole SFH took advantage of a quiet market, mandating lead managers on Wednesday for a mortgage backed covered bond with a rare 12 year tenor. The prospective deal emerged after S&P published an upbeat report on the French covered bond market.

Traders told GlobalCapital this week that low yield levels were ‘starting to become a problem’ for covered bond buyers, following a sustained rally in rates, adding that it was extremely hard to find offers on bonds in many parts of the market.

SR Boligkreditt issued a euro covered bond on Monday and, for the first time in its history, was able to price in line with Sparebank 1 Boligkreditt (Spabol). However, its hopes of issuing more than its usual €500m size were dashed.

Covered bonds issued this week by Berlin Hyp and Deutsche Hypo would have struggled without demand from the European Central Bank, suggesting the central bank is crowding out investor demand from the private sector.

A broad and diversified group of investors placed large orders for ING Belgium’s €1.25bn 10 year covered bond issued on Thursday, lapping up its positive reoffer yield and the convincing spread pick-up, as well as the rarity and strength of the name. The resounding response stood in contrast to two tightly priced negative yielding Pfandbriefe issued earlier this week.

ING Belgium has mandated lead managers for its first covered bond since September 2018 and its fifth since the programme’s inception in 2013. The prospective deal may just avoid being issued with a negative yield, but it’s a close call.

Some recent covered bond issues would have barely have made it over the line without the European Central Bank’s help. Meanwhile, valuations are elevated. But the market still looks attractive compared with unsecured credit, a leading investor told GlobalCapital on Wednesday.