This Month
Hedge fund giant Bridgewater bets against Australian stocks and bonds
Founded by Ray Dalio, the American investment giant will gain if the sharemarket falls and if long-term interest rates increase, new disclosures show.
February
There’s a reason why investors are flocking to fund Australian states
State governments grappling with credit downgrades have no choice but to pay bond investors more money to fund their ambitious election promises.
October 2024
RBA blowing financial stability bubble
Household leverage has declined in the US and Europe, but the lax approach of Australia’s central bank has fuelled a record increase in household debt.
August 2024
‘A scandal of epic proportions’: why heads could roll at ANZ
This week on The Fin podcast, Jonathan Shapiro on ANZ’s bond trading scandal, whether the bank lied about its market activity to get on the deal and who should be accountable.
July 2024
Could ANZ’s trading scandal trigger executive accountability laws?
ASIC declined to say whether its ANZ investigation involved the Financial Accountability Regime. But an ANZ update this week was speaking the language.
ANZ’s toxic trading-floor roulette spins out of control
The bank is engulfed in one of its biggest scandals after a sudden market move swung tens of millions of dollars out of its client’s favour. The client was the government.
The ANZ scandal is a bombshell in two acts
The issues engulfing the bank’s trading team are not about complicated bond trades. It’s about an alleged double act of deceit and manipulation of the taxpayer.
ANZ’s alleged bond trade manipulation is ‘disturbing’
MST Marquee veteran analyst Brian Johnson says the growing scandal in the bank’s markets division “could be yet a significant issue” for investors.
ANZ probes ‘$54b’ in inflated bond trades
The bank overstated the value of government bonds it traded by over $50 billion in a year, boosting its chances of winning lucrative mandates to issue Commonwealth debts.
AOFM chief puts banks on notice as bond trading probe heats up
The head of the government’s debt agency has reminded the banks, which are hired to help it sell billions of dollars of bonds, what is expected of them.
May 2024
ANZ confirms investigation of its government bond sale
ANZ said is “co-operating fully” with ASIC as it investigates “suspected contraventions” of the Corporations Act relating to a government bond sale last year.
ASIC investigates ANZ over Treasury trades
The corporate regulator acted after receiving a complaint from the Australian Office of Financial Management, which raises government debt, sources said.
April 2024
Investors eye attractive returns for Australia’s first green bond
Fund managers expect the country’s first green bond will offer the same yields as government bonds, even though overseas buyers are often willing to receive less.
March 2024
Fundies to support federal government’s inaugural green bond
Backers expect the issuance will be in hot demand by local and offshore investors and could top out at $1 billion-plus.
February 2024
This fundie is making money on bond price errors
Laura Ryan at Ardea Investment Management does not care what the RBA does with interest rates. Her job is to find inefficiencies in government bond prices.
January 2024
Prospects brighten for property stocks as 2024 rate cuts loom
With hopes rising globally that central banks will begin cutting rates this year, the recent rebound in the real estate investment trust sector could crank higher.
October 2023
Government settles climate risk to bonds case, makes a key concession
To settle a case, Treasury recognised risks to the value of sovereign bonds from global warming, which a judge warned could be “a huge drain on Commonwealth resources”.
June 2023
The tangled web of our RBA-led financial system
All roads in our financial system eventually lead to the Reserve Bank of Australia, yet financial executives often don’t like recognising this fact.
February 2023
If bonds aren’t cheap, equities can’t be either
Interest rates may be at decade highs, but some of the world’s biggest fixed income funds say it’s still risky business to chase yield.
November 2022
Investors are snapping up nation’s record $900b debt
Australia’s abysmal productivity performance will blow out gross debt and cost taxpayers about $3 billion more a year in interest payments by 2032-33.