Santander setting the pace in European ABS
Following the end of quantitative easing in 2023, the European ABS market has gone from strength to strength and 2025 is set to overtake the post-2008 new issuance record set in 2024.
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TwentyFour Blog
Fed rate cut does little for clarity on policy path
The Federal Reserve (Fed) cut interest rates by 25 basis points (bp) on Wednesday, exactly as markets had anticipated, marking its first rate reduction since December 2024.
Is there value in the troubled European chemicals sector?
As active managers we are naturally looking for bonds that we believe are mispriced, therefore offering attractive risk-adjusted carry or, sometimes, a capital gain if market pricing falls into line with our view. Equally important is to avoid sectors facing structural or protracted cyclical downturns where we don’t think valuations reflect the fundamentals.
Ratings uplift a boost for European financials
A trio of rating upgrades in European financials late last week has highlighted the strength of fundamentals in the sector. With the proportion of the subordinated financials that is rated investment grade continuing to grow, the wider pool of investors targeting these bonds could help to dampen volatility in the asset class.
How worrying is low job growth?
Job creation, or rather a lack of it, has been in the spotlight recently as weak non-farm payrolls data in the US has driven a rally in government bonds and strengthened market projections for rate cuts.
Are markets pricing in the threat to Fed independence?
The next few days could be pivotal to any concerns around the independence of the US Federal Reserve (Fed).
How will digital currencies impact banks?
The European Central Bank (ECB) is reportedly accelerating its work on a digital version of the euro (the dEuro), having seen the US pass the Genius Act in July which paved the way for broader adoption of so-called stablecoins.
Credit’s cash pile ready for September supply
We have long harked on about the strength of the technical in credit, with solid fundamentals, resilient inflows and defensive positioning continuing to provide a tailwind for the market.
Improving growth forecasts matter for markets
On Thursday, markets received preliminary Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) figures for August. As a reminder, PMIs are timely indicators of trends in manufacturing and services, with a number above 50 signalling an expansion and below 50 a contraction.
Allianz’s blockbuster RT1 underpinned by insurance fundamentals
Restricted Tier 1 (RT1) investors have been woken from an otherwise sleepy summer after Allianz Group, one of the largest insurers and asset managers globally, brought a $1.25bn deal to the market on Tuesday.
Aggressive high yield deals call for heightened vigilance
Urbaser, a Spanish waste management specialist, came to the market last week with a controversial new deal. The company launched a €1bn payment-in-kind (PIK) toggle note to fund a dividend to its owner Platinum Equity, just six weeks after it issued a new €2.3bn debt package to refinance its existing debt and fund a further €1bn of dividends.
BoE: A historic vote and a hawkish cut
The Bank of England (BoE) delivered a widely expected 25bp cut on Thursday, taking interest rates to a two-year low of 4%. But the real story was in the balance of views on the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which for the first time in its 28-year history had to conduct two rounds of voting and has forced markets to reassess the path of future rate cuts.