UBS

Market participants expect a large step up in senior holdco issuance early next year, putting further pressure on spreads and pushing issuers further afield for funding.

It has not been an easy year for investors. Extreme bouts of volatility have damaged sentiment. Expectations of a US rate hike have buckled nerves. It is in times like this that banks really prove their value – and the most valuable of all this year has been UBS, according to voters in Asiamoney's Brokers Poll. Matthew Thomas reports.

Asian analysts face one of the most exciting markets in the world. But they also face one of the most complex, dealing with a region that is vulnerable to macro factors while having country-specific risk factors in almost every sector. The following winners of Asiamoney's 2015 Brokers Poll proved adept at the juggling act this year.

Pfandbriefbank, the Swiss mortgage lender, printed a dual tranche covered bond on Friday, drawing strong demand from local insurance companies and pension funds for the longer tranche of the deal.

Repsol, the Spanish oil producer, issued a €600m five year 2.125% bond on Wednesday, in a torrid week for commodity markets, to finance a buyback of some Talisman Energy bonds.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce took advantage of a back-up in three year euro swap yields following the European Central Bank meeting last week to issue a covered bond of the same tenor.

Unitymedia, the German cable operator, this week priced €420m of senior secured 10 year notes to yield 4.625%, the wide end of price talk.

Citic Securities, one of China's top brokerages, is in the headlines for the wrong reasons again after two of its top bankers went missing.

China Construction Bank broke the pricing record for the Asian additional tier one (AT1) sector this week, raising $3.05bn with a headline coupon of just 4.65%. Although this was the lowest coupon ever achieved by an Asian bank in the AT1 market, investors were more than happy to pour into the trade.

Inner Mongolia-based China Shengmu Organic Milk is testing appetite in the syndicated loan market for a $120m three year facility and is offering banks an attractive yield of more than 300bp.

The equity-linked market in Europe has been quiet since Total SA’s $1.2bn deal on November 25, but on Wednesday a very different deal was executed successfully by Basilea Pharmaceutica, a small and still unprofitable Swiss drug company.

Repsol, the Spanish oil producer, issued a €600m five year 2.125% bond today, in a torrid week for commodity markets, to finance a buyback of some Talisman Energy bonds.