There is one place where both equity and fixed income investors can go to ramp up their China exposure: the flourishing convertible bond market.
Chinese groups turned to convertible bonds in near record numbers last year as it became the most reliable way to issue a large chunk of equity – and so support growth – for companies that are already listed.
The market is dominated by domestic investors, but foreigners are becoming more active as corporate interest in using this financing tool means companies are prepared to offer convertible bonds at cheap premiums. The bonds allow issuers to offer debt that pays investors a low monthly coupon and gives them the option to convert the security into the issuer’s stock if it climbs to a preset premium over the bond’s tenure.