HSBC

European insurance companies were busy raising capital in every major currency this week, as they showed they were not willing to let a strong issuance window pass by them amid Covid-19.

The Belgian region of Wallonne took advantage of the growing demand in the long end of the curve to sell its first social bond on Thursday, although it had to pay a chunky new issue premium to do so. Elsewhere, Bpifrance received plenty of demand to print €1.25bn with a 10 year trade.

BASF and Pearson brought green and social bonds on Thursday, as sustainability-linked issuance continues to pull Europe’s high grade corporate market out of the darkest days of the coronavirus pandemic’s panic funding phase.

Shares in IWG, the London-listed operator of serviced offices and co-working spaces, rose by 15% on Thursday after the company successfully tapped investors for £315m to fund growth once the Covid-19 global pandemic subsides.

Insurance company Phoenix Group Holdings launched a tier two in the dollar market on Thursday in a refinancing exercise, making use of favourable conditions across the board with a "well received" trade. But the issuance raised some concerns regarding the company’s plans to deleverage after its acquisition of ReAssure.

Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings raised $6bn from a four-tranche transaction on Wednesday. The deal, which attracted some $36bn of orders at its peak, proved that global investors are not being scared away from Chinese credits, despite the geopolitical risks clouding the country. Morgan Davis reports.

Citic Securities Co made its first dollar bond outing of the year on Wednesday, raising $1bn from a dual-tranche deal.

Commerzbank and Crédit Agricole this week showed that banks do not have to pay big premiums for subordinated paper, with investors regaining their appetite for risk during the coronavirus pandemic.

Banks are bounding back into the Kangaroo market. On Wednesday, BNP Paribas jumped in to sell the first syndicated Australian dollar senior non-preferred deal since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, later that day the Bank of Nova Scotia announced plans to join the fray with a mandate for a three year bail-inable deal.

France received its biggest ever order book as it came to the market for a 20 year syndication on Tuesday. SSA bankers say that investors are looking for duration after previously sticking to defensive maturities as the Covid-19 crisis eases.

Aviva was set to raise £500m of tier two capital on Wednesday, fuelling speculation that the UK insurer would be looking to call one of its outstanding perpetual bonds.

China Ping An Insurance raised $600m in the bond market on Tuesday, after finding strong support from Asian investors during calls on Monday.