Wealthy Asians have poured billions of dollars into some of the riskiest parts of the European corporate bond market this year in a bid to secure a higher yield in a low interest rate environment.
At least $10bn worth of European “hybrid” debt specifically targeted at rich Asian retail investors has been sold this year, according to estimates by analysts, sharply up from the previous two years where only a handful of similar deals were done.
Much of the debt has been bought through Asian private banks, the top 20 of which in the region have nearly doubled their assets under management to more than $1tn since 2007, according to a survey by Private Banker International.