Hong Kong iBonds attract strong investor interest
Number of buyers of HK$10 billion government issue expected to surpass last year's 520,000
The sale of the fourth batch of inflation-linked bonds worth HK$10 billion attracted hundreds of thousands of investors yesterday, although the number of subscribers appears to have grown at a much slower rate than last year's robust pace.
"Over 520,000 people subscribed last year and it was already a huge number. This year, the number may be similar or even higher than last year's," a banker who monitored the sale said.
The number of subscribers rose about 10 per cent from last year at major banks such as Bank of China and Bank of Communications, which started taking orders for the iBonds yesterday.
Hang Seng Bank, DBS, Dah Sing Bank and Fubon Bank received about the same number of applications as they did last year.
In comparison, the number of subscribers last year grew 40 to 50 per cent on average at major banks such as HSBC, BOC, Bocom and DBS.
One banker said the modest growth this year could be because the government bonds were launched a month later than last year and at a time when many people went on holiday.
A new trend emerged this year: more investors were buying the iBonds online, said Gary Leung Wai-kei of BOC.