Despite increasing inflation, interest rates should remain low until late 2023, UMB bank tells assistant treasurers. Economic growth turned negative at the start of the pandemic but is rebounding strongly as the United States advances through what some call the Great Rotation—major changes that Eric Kelley, executive VP and director of research and fixed income for UMB Bank, said should result in a strong reopening over the next 12 to 24 months. UMB Bank is a large regional bank serving mainly…
Options in the ESG financing field range from CP to credit facilities, money-market funds and time deposits. Not quite ready to issue ESG bonds? Nearly half the assistant treasurers (ATs) in the projects and priorities session of a recent meeting of NeuGroup for Large-Cap Assistant Treasurers cited ESG as a top priority. However, most said their companies were not quite ready to issue an ESG-based bond and expressed interest in various ESG alternatives. Issuing an ESG bond requires significant legwork and…
Treasury teams making the case for floating-rate debt see commercial paper as a flexible tool to gain exposure. One of corporate treasury’s perennial challenges is determining the best ratio of fixed- to floating-rate debt, and that conundrum has been heightened by factors including record low interest rates and the significant debt companies took on last year. An assistant treasurer in a recent NeuGroup Assistant Treasurers’ Leadership Group (ATLG) meeting noted that efficient-frontier analysis suggests companies should hold a minimum 30% to…
An interview with Lucia Greenblatt, managing director of technology banking at MUFG, on a SAAS company’s financing journey. The optimal capital structure for a high-growth technology company may change significantly as its business develops and its financing options increase—one reason corporates that issue convertible bonds early in their trajectory often replace them with alternatives more suited to mature businesses with investment-grade (IG) credit metrics or ratings That takeaway sprang from a session at a recent meeting of NeuGroup for Growth-Tech…
Many corporates are deciding whether to restart share repurchase plans suspended in 2020.After the pandemic hit, the volume of share repurchases plummeted and what continued was mainly executed by companies managing the top-20 programs in terms of volume, Societe Generale bankers told assistant treasurers at a recent NeuGroup meeting sponsored by the bank. Dividend payouts, meanwhile, stayed relatively steady and were only cut or canceled as a last resort, Societe Generale said (see chart). An increasing number of companies have…
U.S. Bank describes the speedy recovery of revolving credit facility issuance.Talk about a rebound: In the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic, the value of bank loan facilities put in place by corporates tanked by more than 50% to about $200 billion. In the first quarter, it topped $500 billion, above the level reached a year prior (see chart), due in part to plummeting pricing. This was among the key insights from a loan market update by Jeff Stuart, EVP and…
NeuGroup members discuss details of including firms owned by minorities and women in debt and other transactions.Talk about timing. Members of NeuGroup for Capital Markets discussed diversity and inclusion (D&I) in capital markets transactions on the same day 11 firms owned by women, minorities and veterans joined Deutsche Bank Securities in closing a $750 million bond underwriting for the bank. The role of the 11 firms—which received about 60% of the fees—underscores the momentum of the movement among banks and corporates to…
The weeks and days leading up to the sale of a company’s debt can be nonstop crazy. Then there’s the bank group. After weeks of extremely busy days, late-night phone calls and early morning meetings, you’re just days away from a multibillion-dollar debt issuance. The phones are ringing and one (or more) of the calls is from a co-lead bank, still complaining about its share of the deal. After you manage to get off the phone, they call your boss…
Building a framework sets the stage for green bonds—an umbrella to systematize initiatives. Increased scrutiny of corporate sustainability efforts by investors and other stakeholders has made it essential for companies to place ESG initiatives into a clear framework. Building the framework to coordinate decisions and address investor inquiries more effectively requires communication among key parts of the company, with treasury playing a critical role.These were among the takeaways from a recent meeting of NeuGroup for Capital Markets sponsored by Wells Fargo…
Members of NeuGroup for Capital Markets praise Fitch analysts and a ‘ratings-through-the-cycle’ approach.For decades, Fitch Ratings has been the third ratings agency—behind Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s—used by Fortune 500 corporates that want to ensure they maintain the two investment-grade ratings necessary to remain in the Bloomberg Barclays Bond Index. That may be changing. At a recent meeting of NeuGroup for Capital Markets, members said they have been impressed with Fitch’s analysis over the past few years, and especially…