Australian retail investors have not had the opportunity to invest in corporate debt for many years. Whilst Europe, the US and New Zealand all have robust corporate retail debt markets, Australia has been notable for its almost exclusively wholesale market.
However, on March 11 2009 AMP (a financial services and wealth management group) led a potential resurgence, launching a listed transaction that ultimately raised A$296 million ($223 million) from a mix of institutional and retail investors. It was followed in April by a A$284 million bond from Tabcorp (a gambling and entertainment group) with institutional investors taking a large portion of the bonds and retail picking up the balance.
Both AMP and Tabcorp are household names in Australia. Whether these transactions signal a new start for a genuine retail debt market remains an open question. The answer will depend...