Timing it right

摘要

Eleven years ago, Hutchison Whampoa sold US$5bn of bonds in one go, setting a record for Asia's biggest bond issue that would remain untouched for a decade. At the time, the US fed funds rate was at 1.00%, a record low, and US Treasuries were coming to the end of a particularly volatile year, having endured a sharp sell-off over the summer. Hutch launched its record fundraising at what turned out to be an opportune moment. Six months later, the Fed began hiking rates, taking the benchmark interest rate up to 5.25% by June 2006. Fast forward to October 2014, and Hutchison has again flashed its trading credentials with an opportunistic US$5.4bn trade, braving the market on the eve of a US Federal Reserve policy statement and a day after a state-owned South Korean issuer had been forced to back out of a deal.