Picking a vintage bond syndication from a duffer

Issuers in the European corporate bond market are beginning to fixate on the amount they are able to move pricing in their favour when they bring a new deal to market as a key marker of the trade's success.

But just how good an indicator is that? Certainly the banks that connect these issuers with investors by running these deals don't think much of it. We look at the pros and cons of this latest fad.

We also took a look at the bond market landscape for financial institutions. Banks bringing their most expensive and riskiest deals to market — additional tier one capital — found a red hot market this week. But at the other end of the scale, there is a sense that ultra-safe covered bonds are proving a harder sell. We examine the market dynamics.