Appetite for corporate bonds growing

The sterling corporate bond market has grown over the past decade to leave it larger than the gove...

The sterling corporate bond market has grown over the past decade to leave it larger than the government bond market this year. This growth has been accompanied with returns for BBB-rated corporate bonds outperforming UK equities and all other UK bonds over the 10-year period between 1991 to 2000, according to the 2001 Barclays Equity Gilt Study. The growth in the market has been fuelled by companies issuing more debt to reduce their cost of capital, accompanied by an increased appetite within the fund management community for these assets. Two new drivers which are expected to be posi...