UBS

Asset managers are increasingly trading products that are based on the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index on the back of a spike in volatility. According to UBS, asset managers are looking to the VIX as a tool for hedging, in addition to a product that they can trade in their clients’ portfolios.

CRH, the Irish building materials group listed in London, sold over 74m new shares on Monday for £1.22bn (€1.61bn), as it completed the second of two capital market deals backing its takeover of assets being sold by building materials businesses Holcim and Lafarge.

HKBN, or Hong Kong Broadband Network, plans to start investor education for its IPO of around $600m from Monday, February 9, according to two bankers on the transaction. Indonesia’s Mitra Keluarga is also expected to hit the road on the same day for its own listing.

Indonesian telecom tower operator Tower Bersama is looking to make its first appearance in the international bond market since making its debut in 2013, opening books for a seven non call four year dollar bond on Tuesday, February 3.

Chinese technology giant Tencent is set to talk with US investors on conference calls this week after picking three banks for a possible bond.

CRH, the Irish building materials group listed in London, this morning launched an accelerated bookbuild to increase its capital by 9.99%, as part of the funding for its €6.5bn acquisition of assets being divested by Holcim and Lafarge.

CRH, the Irish building materials company, has signed a bridge loan for the full €6.5bn it is paying cement makers Holcim and Lafarge for a package of assets in Europe, Canada, Brazil and the Philippines.

Philippine property developer Century Properties will meet investors next week ahead of a potential US dollar bond debut after mandating three banks.

Corporate bond supply returned to the Swiss market this week as a trio of domestic firms, including debut crossover credit Hirslanden, took advantage of the negative interest rate environment to lock in ultra-low yields.

Rating: Aa2/A+/AA-

After a brutal year in 2014, in which several senior staff were cut or left the bank, UBS’s European levfin business has a fixer in the shape of Jim Boland.

UBS this week trumpeted the recent launch of an exchange traded note that provides investors with hedged exposure to the Chicago Board Options Exchange Market Volatility Index (VIX).