Banks

Global bond markets have moved sharply in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as investors have tried to assess the impact of an unprecedented raft of financial and economic sanctions. Mark Holman looks at the potential implications for inflation and growth, and highlights some areas of fixed income where yields have risen to near-crisis levels.

European bank equity has been among the hardest hit sectors since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as fears of losses and a flight to quality have prompted investors to change positioning.

As 2021 wore on we became increasingly concerned that the disconnect between asset prices, economic fundamentals and monetary policy was becoming more acute.

Inflation was the dominant theme across financial markets in 2021, and we think it is likely to be a big driver of returns again in 2022.

As bondholders, we are comforted by all the banks passing such a severe test.

TwentyFour Asset Management's annual conference took place virtually for the second year running on September 15 & 16, with hundreds of attendees tuning in live for interactive sessions with TwentyFour's portfolio management team. All the insights from the Multi-Sector team are now available

We agree that banks are sitting with an abundance of excess capital and will use some of it to repay shareholder support. However, capital buffers will remain elevated for some time to come,

In TwentyFour's Multi-Sector Bond update on Thursday 13th May 2021, Partner & Portfolio Manager Eoin Walsh provided an update on investment themes and positioning in the fixed income market.

Additional Tier 1 bonds, or AT1s for short, are part of a family of bank capital securities known as Contingent Convertibles or ‘Cocos’. They are bonds issued by banks that contribute to the total level of capital they are required to hold by regulators.

Having been at the heart of the GFC and then contributing to the Eurozone sovereign crisis, we have long argued the European banking sector would have to prove its newfound resilience to investors by successfully navigating a challenging period.

What is most interesting about the CS situation though is that to us it illustrates the ability of large banks to bolster capital when such events occur, and the range of options they have to do it.

ESG conscious investors, ourselves included, of course, are applauding this brave decision by Barclays to put their conscience before profit, but they are not the first to do so.