5 Jul, 2018

Reserve Requirement Ratios – What Are They?

By |2018-07-05T04:34:15+10:00Jul 5, 2018|Case Study|

Too much is made of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) overnight cash rate and the Federal Funds rate of the U.S Federal Reserve, with market observers not having to search far for diverse and divergent markets commentary and insights. There is comparatively little commentary however, to understanding what a Reserve Requirement Ratio (RRR) is and the arguably equally important [...]

20 Jun, 2018

To TLAC or Not to TLAC?

By |2018-06-20T22:42:24+10:00Jun 20, 2018|Case Study, Education|

It’s been over a year since we first commented in our article Will we see Tier 3 in Australia? about whether APRA could be contemplating a new Tier-3 capital class for the domestic big 4 banks. This would form the Australian response to the “Total Loss-Absorbing Capacity (TLAC)” regime being imposed on the world’s largest banks by international regulators. As [...]

20 Jun, 2018

What Do Bond Markets think of the Nuclear Button?

By |2018-06-20T22:41:55+10:00Jun 20, 2018|Case Study, Education|

Since the division of Korea at the end of World War 2 in 1945, the two countries occupying the North and South sides of the Korean peninsula diverged on to two completely different economic paths. Whilst South Korea has experienced one of the largest economic transformations over the past 60 years, becoming the 4th largest economy in Asia and 11th [...]

6 Jun, 2018

Ferrari or Italy – Which Is More “Risk Free”?

By |2018-06-06T22:30:50+10:00Jun 6, 2018|Case Study, Education|

The concept of a risk free-rate, or the yield of government-issued securities, has long been one of the fundamental building blocks of capitalism and the basis of modern financial literature. It is a concept so intuitive that the general investing public in much of the developed world has largely taken for granted, both academically, and in most cases, in practice. [...]

23 May, 2018

Non-Operating Holding Companies (NOHCs) – Do You Really Know Them?

By |2018-05-23T22:00:42+10:00May 23, 2018|Case Study, Education|

In Australia, the fixed income market, especially the exchange-traded part that is available to retail investors, is dominated by well-established, household name issuers such as the major banks and other large financial services companies.  Whilst retail investors are usually quick to identify an issuance from a household name issuer, many, if not all, tend to overlook a fundamental question: Who [...]

5 May, 2018

Why We Care About Look-Through Debt

By |2018-05-05T23:45:30+10:00May 5, 2018|Case Study|

Look-through earnings was a concept widely attributed to legendary investor Warren Buffet, famed for his ability to value companies and achieve exceptional returns. The idea behind “look-through earnings” is that an investor should not just look at a company’s reported accounting earnings, but instead analyse earnings from subsidiaries and associated parties that would flow through to shareholders in the form [...]

11 Apr, 2018

Bank Funding Costs and The Future of Borrowing

By |2018-04-11T23:52:01+10:00Apr 11, 2018|Case Study, Education|

Since March this year, the benchmark local borrowing rate for Australian banks – the Bank Bill Swap Rate (BBSW) has risen sharply from ~1.80% to over 2.00% as we type, reflecting higher bank funding costs. In the meantime, USD funding costs as represented by the London Interbank Offer Rate (LIBOR) have also risen significantly, after surpassing BBSW since January this [...]

28 Mar, 2018

USPP Market – Why Do We Care?

By |2018-03-28T22:58:06+11:00Mar 28, 2018|Case Study, Education|

Tabcorp recently announced that it had successfully priced US$1.4 billion long-term notes to investors in the US Private Placement (USPP) market. The placement comprises four USD and two AUD-denominated tranches, with maturities evenly spaced between 8 – 18 years. The notes will be issued in June 2018. All USD proceeds will be swapped into AUD, resulting in total AUD proceeds [...]