You are a bond analyst at the ABC Fund in Singapore. You have been assigned to assess a new bond issue. The issuer is a property developer that is raising a 15-year fixed-rate S$500 million bond issue to finance the construction of a large industrial building in a foreign developing ASEAN country. Units in the building will be leased for use as warehousing and distribution, and as data centers. The building will serve as collateral for the bond issue. 

 

The property developer has projects in many countries. It has a reputation for aggressively pursuing growth. Rumour in the market suggests that the company is tapping the bond market as banks have been reluctant to lend to them, or have imposed very strict terms if a loan were given.

 

(a) Identify and assess three risks associated with the bond issue.

 

(b) Formulate a strategy using derivatives for the ABC Fund to mitigate the credit risk of this bond issue.

 Discuss one  advantage and one disadvantage associated with using the strategy you propose