Europe

BlackRock is bearish on the prospects of the government bond market in 2020, thanks to the exhaustion of monetary policy as a means of generating growth. Instead, the world’s largest asset manager is looking to move deeper into riskier assets such as emerging markets where there is still room for further easing.

French insurance firm Scor made good use of quiet conditions in the FIG market this week, tapping a restricted tier one (RT1) bond — the first ever in dollars — for another $125m.

A ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine, has been met with guarded scepticism by equity investors. Many remain unconvinced that a lasting solution to the dispute over East Ukraine is imminent.

Algebris Investments has launched a new fund to buy investment grade securities issued by global financial institutions. It is looking to profit from a sector that it sees as being undervalued compared with every other area of credit.

French company Veolia Environnement is set to return to the Panda bond market after more than a year away. It has mandated banks for its third outing in China’s debt market.

Kunal Gandhi, the head of corporate broking at Barclays, has left the bank, GlobalCapital understands.

Sprawling e-commerce company The Hut Group completed a €600m term loan 'B' deal on Tuesday, changing its capital structure. The privately held company — touted as one of the few UK tech unicorns — has expansion ambitions in both online stores and web services, but is also making risky excursions into real estate.

ESG funds listed on the London Stock Exchange have had substantial investor interest through December, capping off a particularly green year for the market.

After weeks of equity inflows, investors are primed for a rally in UK equities following this Thursday’s general election. Banks are hoping for strong issuance conditions through to January.

Deutsche Bank laid out its strategy for its investment bank at an investor "Deep Dive" event on Tuesday. As part of a plan to boost the return on tangible equity, it is focusing on cutting costs in the back office and raising revenues in financing and origination.

Equity markets, particularly European ones, are largely focusing on the UK election as the last opportunity for pre-Christmas volatility. But investors should remember that other shocks remain possible, including the scheduled imposition of US trade tariffs on China on Sunday.

European insurance companies have limited refinancing needs in 2020, but analysts say that the sector will take advantage of market conditions to clean up capital structures for Solvency II. French insurance firm Scor this week was looking to beat the rush with a tap of a restricted tier one (RT1) bond.