Take a cursory look at league table data and Asia’s G3 bond markets appear to have had a very good first quarter.
According to Dealogic figures, issuance volumes are only marginally down on 2017’s record-breaking year. In the first three months of 2018, issuers across Asia ex-Japan raised $86.3 billion compared to $94.4 billion from January to March last year see table 1, below.
But a glance at secondary market performance paints a very different picture. It is hard to find new issues that are trading above their launch price.
As a result, the JP Morgan Asian Credit Index JACI returned -1.463% to...