May 4, 2009

Some public sector funds in the US have banned placement agents:

The move by some U.S. public pension funds to ban middlemen who market the services of private equity and hedge fund investments is misguided, according to Michael Travaglini, Massachusetts system executive director.

The funds would be better served installing more checks and balances to prevent undue political influence, Travaglini said. New York, for instance, should broaden control of its pension so the state comptroller is no longer sole trustee, Travaglini said in a telephone interview.

New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who runs the $121.9 billion fund, banned the use of placement agents, lobbyists or other paid intermediaries last month amid a widening pay-to-play investigation. New York City similarly told money managers they could no longer use middlemen get pension fund business.

“There’s a legitimate place for placement agents,” said Travaglini, who’s helped run the $34.2 billion retirement fund for public employees in Massachusetts since 2004. “I’m amazed that a political corruption case has led people to question the legitimacy of a long established part of the asset management business.”

The ban is craziness, but there will be many more babies thrown out with the bathwater as political posturing takes centre stage.

DBRS is forecasting a preponderance of downgrades in 2009:

In a commentary released today, DBRS notes that it has seen a significant increase in credit deterioration in Q1 2009. According to the report, corporate credits finished the quarter on a negative tone, with approximately 16% of the DBRS universe facing negative rating action over the next 12 months. In contrast, only 2% of credits reviewed by DBRS were facing positive rating action.

The preferred share market continued its rally today, with PerpetualDiscounts roaring ahead as – perhaps – the market has realized why embedded calls at par in five years are valuable for issuers of FixedResets.

HIMIPref™ Preferred Indices
These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref™ Indices

Values are provisional and are finalized monthly
Index Mean
Current
Yield
(at bid)
Median
YTW
Median
Average
Trading
Value
Median
Mod Dur
(YTW)
Issues Day’s Perf. Index Value
Ratchet 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 1.2414 % 989.1
FixedFloater 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 1.2414 % 1,599.6
Floater 3.81 % 4.36 % 70,147 16.67 3 1.2414 % 1,235.7
OpRet 5.09 % 4.31 % 138,646 3.18 15 -0.0480 % 2,138.6
SplitShare 6.03 % 7.20 % 46,756 4.28 3 0.7325 % 1,783.1
Interest-Bearing 6.01 % 6.69 % 28,146 0.64 1 0.8073 % 1,985.2
Perpetual-Premium 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.6174 % 1,669.0
Perpetual-Discount 6.55 % 6.67 % 149,504 12.99 71 0.6174 % 1,537.1
FixedReset 5.79 % 4.88 % 569,488 4.53 36 0.1126 % 1,955.0
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
BAM.PR.O OpRet -2.56 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Option Certainty
Maturity Date : 2013-06-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.81
Bid-YTW : 7.68 %
CM.PR.M FixedReset -1.41 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-08-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.52
Bid-YTW : 5.42 %
TRI.PR.B Floater -1.39 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 12.81
Evaluated at bid price : 12.81
Bid-YTW : 3.09 %
NA.PR.O FixedReset -1.05 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-03-17
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.42
Bid-YTW : 5.24 %
SLF.PR.D Perpetual-Discount 1.00 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 16.14
Evaluated at bid price : 16.14
Bid-YTW : 7.00 %
BNS.PR.P FixedReset 1.04 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 24.11
Evaluated at bid price : 24.20
Bid-YTW : 4.24 %
CM.PR.J Perpetual-Discount 1.07 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 17.03
Evaluated at bid price : 17.03
Bid-YTW : 6.67 %
PWF.PR.K Perpetual-Discount 1.10 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 18.36
Evaluated at bid price : 18.36
Bid-YTW : 6.80 %
NA.PR.P FixedReset 1.12 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-03-17
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 27.00
Bid-YTW : 4.73 %
GWO.PR.J FixedReset 1.14 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 25.65
Evaluated at bid price : 25.70
Bid-YTW : 5.08 %
TD.PR.A FixedReset 1.22 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 23.96
Evaluated at bid price : 24.00
Bid-YTW : 4.27 %
BAM.PR.J OpRet 1.25 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Soft Maturity
Maturity Date : 2018-03-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.07
Bid-YTW : 8.04 %
SLF.PR.E Perpetual-Discount 1.28 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 16.66
Evaluated at bid price : 16.66
Bid-YTW : 6.86 %
PWF.PR.E Perpetual-Discount 1.28 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 20.56
Evaluated at bid price : 20.56
Bid-YTW : 6.75 %
BAM.PR.M Perpetual-Discount 1.38 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 14.70
Evaluated at bid price : 14.70
Bid-YTW : 8.23 %
BMO.PR.H Perpetual-Discount 1.50 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 21.03
Evaluated at bid price : 21.03
Bid-YTW : 6.32 %
SLF.PR.A Perpetual-Discount 1.59 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 17.25
Evaluated at bid price : 17.25
Bid-YTW : 6.99 %
CM.PR.K FixedReset 1.64 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 24.11
Evaluated at bid price : 24.15
Bid-YTW : 4.55 %
PWF.PR.G Perpetual-Discount 1.67 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 21.90
Evaluated at bid price : 21.90
Bid-YTW : 6.80 %
BNS.PR.M Perpetual-Discount 1.67 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 18.24
Evaluated at bid price : 18.24
Bid-YTW : 6.22 %
TD.PR.O Perpetual-Discount 1.86 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 19.71
Evaluated at bid price : 19.71
Bid-YTW : 6.20 %
HSB.PR.C Perpetual-Discount 1.89 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 18.83
Evaluated at bid price : 18.83
Bid-YTW : 6.88 %
BNS.PR.L Perpetual-Discount 1.90 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 18.28
Evaluated at bid price : 18.28
Bid-YTW : 6.21 %
CM.PR.P Perpetual-Discount 1.94 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 20.50
Evaluated at bid price : 20.50
Bid-YTW : 6.77 %
CM.PR.H Perpetual-Discount 2.02 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 18.16
Evaluated at bid price : 18.16
Bid-YTW : 6.67 %
CIU.PR.A Perpetual-Discount 2.04 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 18.52
Evaluated at bid price : 18.52
Bid-YTW : 6.34 %
BNA.PR.C SplitShare 2.13 % Asset coverage of 1.7+:1 as of March 31 according to the company.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2019-01-10
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 13.91
Bid-YTW : 12.60 %
BAM.PR.K Floater 2.94 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 9.11
Evaluated at bid price : 9.11
Bid-YTW : 4.36 %
BAM.PR.B Floater 3.42 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 9.07
Evaluated at bid price : 9.07
Bid-YTW : 4.38 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
RY.PR.Y FixedReset 77,055 Recent new issue.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-12-24
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.96
Bid-YTW : 5.35 %
BNS.PR.R FixedReset 42,858 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 23.87
Evaluated at bid price : 23.91
Bid-YTW : 4.20 %
RY.PR.L FixedReset 41,965 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 25.15
Evaluated at bid price : 25.20
Bid-YTW : 4.74 %
RY.PR.X FixedReset 38,349 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-09-23
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.53
Bid-YTW : 5.10 %
RY.PR.W Perpetual-Discount 36,880 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 19.64
Evaluated at bid price : 19.64
Bid-YTW : 6.26 %
RY.PR.B Perpetual-Discount 32,261 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2039-05-04
Maturity Price : 19.01
Evaluated at bid price : 19.01
Bid-YTW : 6.21 %
There were 35 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.

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