Americas

The return of heightened market volatility this summer is leading to investors looking at defensive assets as fund managers consider how to ride out a possible turn in the economic cycle.

Mexican lender Banco Mercantil del Norte (Banorte) is looking to sell its third Swiss franc bond, breaking a two-week hiatus in cross-border issuance from Latin American borrowers.

PG&E’s high yield bonds are trading above par, even as Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings advance at the Californian gas and power company. According to one credit research company, bad news may even be good news for the bondholders.

With slowing growth in the global economy, and heightened trade tensions between the US and China, the bear case for equities remains very strong as 2019 enters its final stretch. However, there is still a strong bid for convertible bonds, especially deals from the technology sector, according to equity-linked investors.

Downgrades from two rating agencies crowned a disastrous week for Argentine assets, and there was no relief over the weekend as the finance minister resigned and the country’s likely next president appeared to hint at the possibility of debt restructuring.

LiquidityEdge, which operates an electronic marketplace for US Treasuries, could now look at offering a similar service in the European government bond market after its purchase by MarketAxess. The latter’s president, Chris Concannon, sees the pressure European banks face to cut costs as a boon for trading automation in the region.

The US corporate bond market continued to crank out investment grade deals despite fears of a global recession battering risk assets this week.

A surprise result in last Sunday's primary elections in Argentina triggered hefty losses for emerging market investors this week. Many feared another sovereign default as Argentina assets, and its currency, took an absolute kicking. But by Thursday, writes Oliver West, some felt that bruised and battered investors could be missing out on a chance to snap up cheap assets.

Colombian airline Avianca is offering bondholders the chance to swap unsecured bonds at par for new secured debt as it looks to stave off a looming maturity and clinch $250m of shareholder funding. The airline’s CFO said on Thursday that he felt positive the exchange would go ahead in its existing form.

Market participants are confident that FIG issuance will pick up next week but there are concerns around secondary performance. They are likely to pay close attention to how this week’s deals from Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse fare before marketing their own.

US corporates are turning to convertible bonds to finance themselves while it is still possible to achieve attractive terms, before the economic outlook deteriorates, leading to the best two weeks of issuance volume in 2019.

HSBC’s chief executive was dislodged by the force of the challenges facing the bank. Now, its global markets division is under pressure as senior management continues with reform, writes David Rothnie.