Winterflood: It is time to democratise debt markets

We need to recognise the need for change

In a world of accelerating investor democratisation, the largest capital market of all, in terms of USD equivalent notional outstanding, is the global debt market at $128.3trn, consisting of $40.9trn in corporate debt, according to ICMA in August 2020.

Despite this, debt markets remain strangely anchored in the past. While the retail investor has become resurgent in the equity markets, debt markets are generally still the preserve of the institutional investor. If you consider the economic and market backdrop of the last 10 years, this becomes even more curious. In an environment of stubbornly low interest rates and rising prices, investors crave predictable returns - more synonymous with fixed income products than the traditionally more volatile equity, currency, or commodity markets.  Compare this against the backdrop of ‘fixed ra...