When we called for submissions for our FinanceAsia Achievement Awards 2022 back in September last year, we could not have imagined that events would have moved so fast.
Covid-19 recovery, supply chain disruption and global geopolitical shocks have all been the hallmark challenges of 2022, and each is set to intensify further in 2023.
The themes that emerged in this awards year were not simply resilience – the ability to double down in a crisis, after all, is part of sound financial management everywhere – but the capacity to seize opportunities, too.
Now in our 26th edition, the quality of the awards submissions improves year on year, and more than 600 high-calibre case studies and presentations showcased the very best from Asia Pacific’s financial markets, displaying ingenuity in the face of unprecedented headwinds.
Those investors, asset owners and financial houses that showed a talent for not only sitting out a crisis but turning it to their advantage, were the kind of submissions that won our prestigious awards.
In addition to congratulating the winners, we would also like to thank the jurors and advisors who helped us with decision on the banks, brokers, law firms and rating agencies that were shortlisted and selected.
They were:
Tony Adams – Managing partner, R66 Capital
Sandeep Aggarwal – Independent strategic-cum-financial advisor
Agnes Chen – Managing director APAC, CSC Global
Sandy Gilles – Market education consultant, First Metro Securities
BK How – Regional managing director, Ofisgate
Philip Lee – Corporate, M&A, international capital markets partner, DLA Piper
Richard Liao – Chief executive officer, Hwahsia Glass
Patrick Ng – Group treasurer, RGE Group
David Morton – Non-executive chairman, Helsinki Foundation Asia Pacific
Vivek Sharma – Head of international clients group, Nuvama Group
Rocky Tung – Director and head of policy research, Financial Services Development Council (FSDC)
Sangeeta Venkatesan – Non-executive director and investor, FairVine Super; former chief operating officer, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Nomura
Read on for details of the winners we selected for the House Awards Australia and New Zealand category.
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BEST DEBT FINANCE HOUSE AND BEST INTERNATIONAL BOND HOUSE: Citi
It was hard for judges to go past these well-structured submissions that showed off Citi’s comprehensive suite of debt finance offerings to best advantage.
Citi has skilfully weathered the latest round of volatility going into 2022, advising in difficult sectors in almost every geography to take out both of these awards.
“Good product diversity, strong expertise, and deep experience handling large and complex deals made this our ANZ choice for FinanceAsia’s Best Debt Finance House,” said award judges.
Citi’s full-service debt offering across investment grade and high yield (IG&HY) debt capital markets and securitisation, supported by a deep balance sheet and best-in-class investor coverage, has positioned Citi as the top ANZ market leader for debt financing solutions in 2022.
By a considerable margin, Citi was the most active DCM franchise in Australia and New Zealand, both from an international volume perspective and for transaction breadth across the full suite of products and sectors.
Citi stands out for the scale and the diversity of its DCM advisory and execution platform, having executed transactions across 18 separate products, currencies and sectors throughout the awards period. This was more than any other bank.
With a lending portfolio of around A$10 billion, Citi is a leader in diverse securitisation financing, delivering key client outcomes across large M&A related financing structures, bank facilities and ESG-linked loans.
As a result, Citi’s collaborative global debt advisory platform has led to unmatched whole-of-house solutions for its ANZ clients throughout 2022.
As an international bond house, it was Citi’s work for blood products giant, CSL, that stood out as the kind of execution that clients have come to expect from the lender.
This jumbo $4 billion US dollar offering – used to help fund CSL’s $16.4 billion acquisition of Vifor Pharma – had many moving parts, all of which were expertly navigated by the Citi team.
The $23 billion peak book was the largest orderbook ever for an Aussie corporate transaction. The 40-year tranche was the longest-dated senior bond ever issued by an ANZ corporate, financial or government borrower.
The deal achieved a weighted average tenor of 19 years, at a weighted average cost of 3.93% (4.84% Australian dollar equivalent BBSW+156) after accounting for US treasury (UST) hedging.
CSL executed a number of UST locks in the months prior to execution, which resulted in a 50bps all-in cost saving as underlying rates rose during the preparation process.
Citi has been working over the past few years to guide more borrowers into the 144A market and the CSL deal was a standout example of what can be achieved for Asia’s investment grade issuers.
This follows its growing strength in ESG, high-yield and China markets as well. Its great success in 2021 saw it handling huge projects such as Alibaba Group’s $5 billion trade and leading the Hong Kong government’s debut green bond sale.
BEST EQUITY HOUSE, BEST M&A HOUSE AND BEST INVESTMENT BANK – AUSTRALIA: UBS
Large deals and expert execution marked these submission from UBS which continues its clear and consistent leadership in ANZ markets.
Shrugging off macroeconomic volatility, the bank led seven of the 10 largest equity deals in the review period to maintain its decade-long leading position of 19% of market share, or A$79 billion of attributable league table credit.
Australia had its busiest year for launches since 2013 and UBS, with its deep experience and incisive market intelligence, was well placed to steer IPOs as a trusted advisor and underwriter for clients.
During the review period, UBS led more large-scale A$150 milion-plus IPOs than any other bank. These included IPOs for GQG (A$1.2 billon), APM (A$982million), SiteMinder (A$627 million), Vulcan (A$372 million) and RAM (A$357 million).
UBS ANZ also executed 19 ECM deals and had a 14% market share worth around A$6.3 billion of attributable league table credit.
In addition to these ECM credentials, UBS was the top trader in secondary equity market trading across ASX and Chi-X during the review period, executing A$832 billion of trades (around 19% market share and about 1.8 times the next nearest broker).
As far as M&A activity is concerned, UBS applied innovative solutions to complex assignments, further cementing its position in Australia and New Zealand through cross-border transactions.
Whether it’s M&A advice or financing solutions, UBS has been at the forefront of one of the Asia Pacific’s still-booming markets.
“UBS has proven again to be comprehensive in DCM, ECM and M&A despite the difficult capital market environment,” judges said of this submission.
During the awards submission period, the bank advised on the collapse of Australian miner, BHP’s dual-listed company structure, bringing together advisory and markets expertise from across the globe.
It was also instrumental in the takeover response for Sydney Airport (the largest public markets cash takeover in Australian history), the novel off-market takeover/on-market share acquisitions strategy employed by BGH in the contested takeover battle for Virtus.
It advised on highly structured acquisition arrangements to build South32’s exposure to future facing commodities in its acquisition of a 55% interest in Sierra Gorda.
UBS was the top investment bank in the Australian debt capital markets during the review period, assisting Australasian issuers to raise over A$32 billion across 22 deals.
In terms of Australian dollar government and bank hybrid issuance, it remains the undisputed leader. In Australian dollar bond markets, UBS acted on nearly A$25 billion across 11 transactions.
Deals included the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM)’s A$15 billion 10-year bond with orders of A$37.6 billion, and NSW Treasury Corp’s A$1.5 billion sustainability bond.
In terms of financial hybrid issuance, UBS arranged more Australian dollar ASX-listed hybrids than any other investment bank or major bank in the past five years.
The breadth and scope of its operation made it an obvious choice for judges.
BEST INVESTMENT BANK – NEW ZEALAND: Forsyth Barr
Forsyth Barr remains a powerhouse in terms of advisory in New Zealand, maintaining a leading edge in some of the major transactions of 2021/22.
These included all three New Zealand stock exchange (NZX) IPOs; Air New Zealand’s $1.2 billion rights issue (the largest ever NZX rights issue); and two major M&A transactions.
It also held its number one position in debt capital markets (DCM), advising on more DCM transactions (by deal volume and value) than any other investment bank. It advised on 19 out of the 26 listed corporate/bank retail bonds for the period from October 2021 to November 2022, representing an aggregate deal value of about $4.5 billion.
In terms of mergers and acquisitions, it completed two major transactions in 2022 for two large NZX-listed corporates, advising telecommunications company, Spark, on its strategic review of its passive mobile infrastructure assets and the subsequent sale of a 70% interest in Spark TowerCo for $900 million.
It also advised Trustpower through a strategic review and ultimate sale of its electricity and broadband retail business to Mercury for $441 million to create a standalone renewable electricity generator.
Currently Forsyth Barr is advising Eastland Group on the sale of its electricity distribution network (Eastland Network).
As far as equity capital markets are concerned, it still holds pole position, advising on eight equity transactions worth around $3.1 billion. In total, it was involved in five equity raisings and all three NZX IPOs.
As well as acting as joint lead manager on Air New Zealand’s $1.2 billion rights offer (the largest ever on NZX), it acted as joint lead manager and joint underwriter on three other transactions: the $350 million IPO of property developer, Winton; the A$438 million IPO of infrastructure player, Ventia, where it acted as sole New Zealand lead manager; and the A$371.6 million IPO of metal supplier, Vulcan.
In all, Forsyth Barr successfully executed transactions for 25 clients in 2022 with a combined value of $8.9 billion.
BEST ISSUER OF THE YEAR – CORPORATE: The University of Melbourne
This winner was a great example of how to navigate extremely volatile conditions.
In 2022, the University of Melbourne, rated AA+ (Stable) by S&P, set out to raise A$600 million in the capital markets and succeeded in pricing two transactions across the US private placement (USPP) and Australian medium term note (AMTN) markets.
Both transactions saw rates fluctuate substantially throughout the marketing period, requiring the university to act nimbly. It paused the AMTN process until conditions stabilised, enabling it to achieve its pricing objectives.
The university first priced a 40-year USPP transaction from Australia, and later another tranche with a 30-year tenor, totalling A$400 million and setting a new record for the longest bond ever printed by an Australian corporate.
The orderbook came in at over A$922 million and priced within initial guidance, despite AA credit spreads widening by 10-15bps throughout the transaction process.
The University of Melbourne also raised A$200 million in a green bond in the AMTN market.
The bond priced at the tighter end of initial guidance at semi-annual-to-quarterly asset swap (SQ ASW) 100, reflecting investor interest in the university’s strong credit rating, its credentials on a global scale, and top performance throughout the pandemic.
BEST ISSUER OF THE YEAR – FINANCIAL INSTITUTION, AND BEST SUSTAINABLE FINANCE HOUSE: NAB
NAB demonstrated leadership on several fronts as best issuer of the year, impressing judges with its currency diversity, product diversity and ESG funding.
In terms of currency diversity, NAB funded across the broadest range of currencies – Australian dollar, US dollar, euro, pound sterling – to outstrip its rivals in strategic approach, reducing its reliance on the Australian dollar domestic market to take advantage of unique opportunities in pound sterling and euro.
Product diversity was another theme for NAB as it actively sought opportunities to diversify away from senior unsecured funding, strategically utilising covered bonds in euro and pound sterling to navigate volatility. The bank also completed tier 2 transactions in Australian dollar, US dollar and Japanese yen.
As far as ESG funding was concerned, NAB was the only issuer to have accessed the euro senior market in 2022 and was able to do this in green bonds, executing in a time of extreme volatility.
NAB was highly proactive in 2022, selectively using US dollar to extend its maturity profile with a jumbo 10-year tranche in January, following that up with the largest fixed rate and floating tier (T2) transaction in the Australian dollar market. It also successfully refinanced a A$2 billion retail additional tier-one (AT1) transaction.
2022 marked the bank’s largest ever annual funding task of A$34 billion, which it achieved with a pragmatic and strategic approach to market selection. Balancing the goal of lowest funding cost with execution certainty made NAB’s submission a clear winner in this category.
But the bank went onto secure a second accolade as Best Sustainable Finance House for ANZ. NAB has grown in stature in this sector since it entered the Australian sustainable debt market just over a decade ago. It now consistently outclasses rivals in this space as a leading issuer, arranger and sustainability coordinator.
The lender now enjoys a solid track record across green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked (GSSS) bonds, green and social securitisation, sustainability-linked loan and sustainability-linked derivative formats.
Over the course of 2022, NAB kept chalking up runs, acting as sustainability coordinator, arranger, joint lead manager, lender or derivatives counterparty on more than 60 labelled sustainable debt transactions globally.
Notable commitments in 2022 have been $2 billion earmarked for affordable housing as well as $70 billion in financing activities by 2025 that will support the transition to a low carbon economy. By March 2022, it had already financed $61.6 billion against this commitment.
Add to this a slew of deals across the globe – including the first sustainability-linked loan in Australia to have a biodiversity/natural capital target) and the first Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) certified green shipping loan for KiwiRail in New Zealand – and NAB is showing that it has what it takes to be a leader in the field.
BEST ISSUER OF THE YEAR – Sustainability: NBN
Please note that this rationale has been updated. See the bottom of this article for further details.
A stellar banking group paved the way on NBN’s green bond deal which came against a challenging market backdrop amid the ongoing impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Capitalising on a brief period of relative stability, NBN, Australia’s National Broadband Network, was able to generate proceeds of A$800 million as part of a 5-year green bond issued in April 2022 under an Australian medium term note (AMTN) programme.
The transaction was launched with an initial price guidance of SQ ASW+130bps area.
Early demand from buy and hold Australian and New Zealand insurers and fund managers created a strong foundation for additional demand, including cornerstone interest from an Asia-based sovereign wealth fund and a Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) central bank.
By early afternoon, the orderbook exceeded A$1.035 billion, allowing pricing to be set at the tight side of revised guidance, with an A$800 million deal size set.
The bond priced at SQ ASW+123bps and has remained inside this re-offer spread. A new issue concession of 8.5bps was observed at the time of submission.
The firm plans to use the proceeds of the issuances under its sustainability bond framework to upgrade Australia’s broadband network by using more energy-efficient technology such as fixed line fibre optic connection instead of legacy copper technology.
The corporate also engaged EY to verify the accuracy of its energy efficiency analysis, highlighting the high governance standards, and the national broadband network provider performed a climate change risk assessment to ensure network resilience.
ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac were joint lead managers on this transaction, while ANZ and NAB acted as joint sustainability coordinators.
NBN was also able to navigate market conditions and access the AMTN market again with an A$800 million four-year transaction in September 2022.
BEST LOCAL BOND HOUSE: ANZ
ANZ has been a colossus on the Australia New Zealand debt capital markets, straddling some of the biggest deals of the year and further cementing its position atop the league tables.
It established a market lead across practically all sectors to rank top in total aggregate volume – gaining A$24.4 billion equivalent of credits in the period, according to figures from Bloomberg.
ANZ also ranked number one in total market share, capturing 17.2% of the market in 2022 and an additional 1.4% year-on-year despite challenging market conditions. It ranked top in number of issues, leading 127 of the highest profile deals in 2022; and by total revenue share, capturing 17.6% of the market and an additional 1.6%.
The bank consistently demonstrated its ability to add real value for clients and was involved in some of the biggest bond deals of the year. Highlights included Optus’ inaugural A$300 million seven-year fixed rate notes sustainability linked bond (SLB) which broke new ground as the first Australian dollar MTN sustainability-linked bond (SLB) from a telco issuer.
ANZ was also joint lead manager on Melbourne Airport’s A$700 million 10-year fixed rate senior secured notes, which was the largest 10-year Australian dollar offering by an Australian corporate on record.
Its ability to successfully steer ESG-labelled transactions through a volatile market, however, caught the eye of judges and was particularly commendable.
ANZ was joint sustainability coordinator and joint lead manager on NBN’s A$800 million five-year fixed rate notes inaugural green bonds. It saw NBN make a record-breaking return to the Australian dollar MTN market, issuing the largest Australian dollar-denominated green bond yet.
The list of heavyweight transactions in Australian dollar semi-government and sovereign, supranational and agency (SSA) bond deals which involved ANZ was also impressive.
The European Investment Bank kicked off issuance for 2022 by successfully pricing A$1.5 billion in five-year sustainability awareness bonds. As the largest-ever Australian dollar green, social and sustainability bond from an SSA borrower, the deal carried the hallmark of ANZ’s involvement as joint bookrunner.
When the Treasury Corporation of Victoria successfully issued A$4.4 billion across two separate floating rate tranches, again ANZ as joint lead manager showed the kind of leadership that clients have come to expect from the local bond powerhouse.
The A$4.4 billion issuance not only represented the largest semi-government bond transaction of 2022, but it was also the largest ever syndicated issuance by a semi-government entity.
Overall, ANZ established clear market leadership, demonstrating its ability to add unparalleled value for clients despite difficult market conditions.
CORRECTION: Regarding the BEST ISSUER OF THE YEAR - Sustainability category, Westpac was incorrectly attributed as winner in the print magazine. The online version of the awards rationale has been updated to address this. NBN won the award for this category.
