Asian USD Credit Primer
More bang for your buck?
Following the recent Asian economic rebound from COVID-19 lows, the global fixed income investment community has shown increased interest in Asian (ex-Japan) USD corporate credit. Supportive spread differentials and other risk-return attributes may make this hard currency asset class an attractive potential addition to fixed income and multi-asset portfolios.
This article profiles the iBoxx USD Asia ex-Japan Corporates index to explore the Asian (ex-Japan) US dollar credit market's:
- Historical development
- Composition across geographies, maturity, sector, and rating
- Yields, spreads, and durations
- Historical returns, volatility, and other performance metrics
- Potential diversification benefits for global investors
Throughout, comparisons are made versus the global USD and EUR corporate credit markets to provide context for both global and regional investors.
Key observations indicate that the market can offer:
- Generally higher comparative yields and spreads
- Shorter relative duration
- Some portfolio diversification
- Significant exposure to China and EM risk
We also glance at the wider iBoxx/iTraxx credit ecosystem in Asia that includes a nascent ETF market and a developing derivatives landscape.
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This article was published by S&P Global Market Intelligence and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.