Debenture prices for Hong Kong’s international schools plummet amid emigration, border closures
- The cost of debentures at elite schools can run into seven figures, but prices have fallen by as much as 40 per cent of late, consultants say
- Debentures are one of the main sources of income for international schools, and are used to finance construction, maintenance and equipment.
Prices of debentures issued by international schools in Hong Kong have plummeted by as much as 40 per cent from their peaks, with consultants attributing the drop to the city’s closed borders and a wave of emigration.
The consultants, who specialise in selling school debentures to parents seeking to increase their children’s chances of enrolment, said prices were expected to pick up when the border reopened.
Debentures are technically a type of loan – sometimes refundable, sometimes not – paid to schools in exchange for prioritising a pupil’s enrolment. Of the 50-plus international schools in the city, debentures from four are sold on the second-hand market, with trading prices subject to schools’ approval.
About 41,000 pupils study in international schools, accounting for 6 per cent of the total student population.
According to the latest quotations by consultants and a review of past trading prices, the values of school debentures have seen a double-digit drop in recent years.