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MTN Showcase & Awards🚁 M I S S I O N P O S S I B L E 🚁 mtn-i’s 2020 Award Winners!
Mission Possible
The biggest winner in mtn-i’s 2020 Awards is the MTN and private placement market itself. Collectively the awards reveal the vital significance of these global markets’ solution delivery for borrowers and investors during the pandemic crisis.
The depth and range of that response revealed – more than ever before – the resilience, power and value of this market’s mission to offer solutions in the face of sudden adversity.
In the 18th year of these Awards and our 20th as the MTN market’s news, data and analytics platform it’s become our most important role to make transparent and quantify the value of the global debt scene’s most undercover of markets. And never more so than in 2020, with their unprecedented depth and range, MTNs made a vital contribution to issuers and investors to survive and thrive amid the pandemic.
The Solutions Matrix.
MTNs delivered crisis-hit issuers unparalleled liquidity at speed in the face of volatility and uncertainty, at a time when benchmark market conditions, price discovery and pricing new deals altogether was challenging and difficult.
In the face of SSA and corporate issuers’ ballooning funding needs to meet the unknown cost of the pandemic, global central banks’ bond buying binge suppressed rates and credit spreads. This made 2020 the most challenging year for investors in their search for yield.
The MTN story of 2020 is how in the face of this challenging matrix, the private markets delivered, with an extraordinary speed, a scaling up of the available liquidity, while at the same time diversifying the range of investors and issuers engaged, and providing product innovation while exploiting swap-driven arbitrage opportunities. Increased SRI investor participation across this matrix, the growth of cost-effective ultra-long funding, the ever-increasing prominence of private taps, and arbitrage and/or outright funding in EM and frontier currencies were among the standout extensions of the market’s unique product range.
Multiplicity Coded
mtn-i’s own innovative theme and trend-driven colour-coded category approach to awards spotlights the value of these markets in 2020 and beyond.
The number of themes which made it to the award stack reached 12 – as we saw the relevance of the sub-sovereigns to be recognised on their own from the broader SSA category. A distinction was also needed between local and EM/frontier currencies in a year which significantly distorted the latter category.
Our themes underline the range and the depth of the MTN and private placement markets’ pandemic-response. And within each theme category is the interplay of these themes in the creation of value, referenced by additional colour coding. Where else can you follow the dots from the theme of SRI expansion through corporate credit diversification and Schuldschein funding? The diversity of MTN market’s possibilities is uniquely colour-coded and connected, and points the way forward in 2021.
Volatility Liquidity..
Corporates rushed to secure funding in the face of an unprecedented uncertainty and looming lockdowns. Private markets were fast to provide funding solutions before any kind of a large scale public issuance was feasible. Heineken tapped the Swiss franc market for the first time in a private MTN while Toyota’s European entity rode north to debut in Norwegian kroner. In Asia, thanks to private placements, Export-Import Bank of Korea was able to navigate market volatility with benchmark-like funding in US and Australian dollars.
SSA Funding Explosion..
The year 2020 was an unprecedented one for sovereign private placements too. Finland embarked on a first of a kind sovereign private tap frenzy to enhance its funding and provide investors with coveted supply, Austria completed its long-awaited return to US dollars choosing the private route while Ireland was an avid issuer of ultra-long tenors and Israel achieved the largest volume, covering all three G3 currency markets.
Social Responsiveness..
The SSA sector led the way to alleviating the damage of the pandemic and funding vaccination development. From countries to agencies, and established and lesser known supranationals, moved swiftly to alleviate the pandemic’s impact by updating their existing social bond programmes. The sector’s new heavy lifting meant that private markets came to life in tandem with public issuance.
Beyond the SSA funding explosion, the menu of green and social bond themes was extended. The World Bank and the International Finance Corp stood out, alongside the Asian Development Bank and Corporacion Andina de Fomento, while City of Munich’s SRI debut innovated by improving the city’s housing sector.
Corporate SRI..
Corporates became visible like never before as they stepped to the fore with the evolution of SRI debt. Henkel introduced the first plastic waste reduction bond targeting both Asia and Europe. Turkish banks found unusual demand that led them to issue inaugural private green bonds. The Euro PP and Schuldschein markets stepped up and further boosted the sustainability-linked issuance. However, in this new and growing SRI asset class, it was Olam International that provided the first private MTN through a cross-border Asian trade.
Yield Longing
More than ever, long-end funding proved relevant, especially in Europe. Not only among the SSAs, where unusual and infrequent supranationals made inroads – led by Jefferies spearheading Black Sea Trade & Development Bank into long-end Euros – to provide higher yield through duration, but also the covered bond market achieved a new milestone stretching to 70 years via a Compagnie de Financement Foncier landmark.
Core Role.
More than ever private placements wereat the core of the global bond markets. MTNs proved their relevance for issuers and investors alike, sometimes blurring the perceived boundaries of benchmark markets with sizeable reverse enquiry-driven private and club deals.
The World Bank broke grounds not only by extending the new SOFR benchmark’s maturity but achieved a size envied by others printing public bonds. This was the foundation for a later tap that further grew the size of its FRN.
From the financial space, Zurich Insurance funded its US entity in a USD200m deal which later doubled to provide cost-efficient, dedicated financing.
Rates Calling.
2020’s growth in rates structures sales to USD90bn emphasised the MTN markets ability to create possibility from a combination of pandemic volatility and near zero rates and unpromising curves.
Citi’s strategic use of structured products to funding the investment bank – recognised in our awards last year – paid off to the tune of USD13bn of funding in its own name in 2020.
InGen, DZ Bank’s innovative digital yield identification platform for investors powered a stunning assent to the top of third party Euro callable sales – a stunning performance over rivals. And a structure in which KfW raised more funding than any other borrower across the year.
In the repack space, once again dominated by SPIRE originator, Crédit Suisse, the first to deliver OATs repacks with yield boosting call structures.
Dealers Deliver..
HSBC proved once again its sheer global distribution capability and is recognised as the MTN dealer of the year. Credit Suisse’ structuring across asset classes remained unrivalled, leading with the first SPV-issued callable OAT repack.
Moreover, it raised equity capital through catastrophe bond-like transfer of its operational risk to insurance investors. Citigroup remained a leader in integrating its dealing capabilities for own-name ratestructures sold across the world while Credit Agricole focused on its unique strategy to facilitate short-term third-party financing.
Digital Payoff.
It is a further tribute to this market’s resilience that the MTN market’s issuers, investors and dealers managed the challenges of physical and geographical dislocation and the virus itself – embracing the possibilities of communication and collaboration technology in the digital realm at speed.
Collaborate..
In the coming weeks we will be collaborating with our award winners to create content which identifies the value and opportunities of these global award themes and trends for borrowers and investors into 2021, supported by mtn-i’s data and analytics platform and mtn-iTV.
Watch out for our new 2021 theme and trend zones.
Themetastic.
On that note of collaboration and connection, our congratulations to all of you, our clients, and our team here, in the latest instalment of the undercover debt market mission that is MTNs.
Invitation..
Join our theme driven MTN conversation in the coming weeks. Watch out for more details. And congratulations to the MTN market and all our award winners.
The mtn-i Team
MTN Awards nominations are open!
Nominations are open for our 18th MTN Awards!The search for the deals, dealers, issuers, investors, innovations and landmarks that will star in our 18th MTN Awards has begun. In this extraordinary year impacted by Covid-19 the MTN and private placement markets have been thriving, offering issuers and investors solutions unlike any other asset class. Despite the initial spike in volatility and an uncertain future, the yield challenge remains bigger than ever in a tight spread – low rate environment where liquidity is abundant. We are looking forward to assembling the most inspirational set of MTN, private debt and structured note awards yet. We invite your nominations across all of our award categories. If you think you’ve had standout, inspirational and groundbreaking deals this year, then get in touch! Pitch us!
We welcome your contributions in any format (PDF, PowerPoint, Word, email) and are delighted to virtually meet face to face (via zoom) or on a call. Click here for more details on how to pitch. PITCH DEADLINE: 22nd December 2020Book your pitch call / zoom meeting at awards@mtn-i.com or +44 (0) 20 7437 1331. Due to these unprecedented times, unfortunately we will not be able to celebrate physically on this 18th MTN Awards edition. Stay safe and looking forward to hear from you !
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mtn-i MTN Awards *NEXT WEEK*
Our 17th MTN Awards is taking place next week in London! It’s an unmissable gathering of the globe’s top borrowers, dealers, structurers, originators and MTN heads and a great night of celebration, networking and inspiration. If you haven’t already booked your awards dinner seat, email events@mtn-i.com for your chance to celebrate the industry’s achievements with us as well as the following institutions who have confirmed their attendance:
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*THE WINNERS* mtn-i 17th MTN Awards
 
mtn-i’s MTN Award Winners!Value Driving2019 may have been a year of falling volume overall in MTNs and private placements globally – but volume has never been the overriding measure of value in mtn-i’s awards. Influential InnovatingAs we start a new year and a decade, it’s worth recognising that this is not just any new year or a new decade for global debt markets. Who could have anticipated the journey travelled by MTN and debt capital markets over the last decade or since 2000, the year mtn-i was founded. And thinking forward – where will the accelerating potential and impact of technology take us by 2030? Across these two decades it’s been the defining characteristic of the MTN, PP and structured note markets to pioneer innovative solutions to market challenges and opportunities. As these awards illustrate – there are very few parts of the international debt markets left untouched by these entrepreneurial endeavours.
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The Digital Laboratory
And Big Thank Youmtn-i Christmas Party *THE PICTURES*
We kicked off the festive season at our MTN market Christmas party earlier this week. The cosy and intimate hideaway at The Den, Soho was the perfect setting for catching up with colleagues and making new connections (whilst drinking some delicious cocktails!)
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You can find pictures of the night *NEXT WEEK* mtn-i Christmas Party
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Our MTN market Christmas Party is next week! We’re excited to celebrate with you at The Den (100 Wardour Street) on December 3rd. Click here to join us and the following institutions who have already confirmed their attendance…
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