Administration December 31, 2008

Credit Crisis Cuts Into Bond Sales

December 31, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - U.S. bond sales and asset-backed securities issuance were down sharply in 2008 amid the global credit crisis.
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U.S. investment-grade bond sales fell to $645 billion from $986.8 billion in 2007, according to Thomson Reuters data, and U.S. junk bond sales fell to $37.2 billion in 2008 from $135.6 billion in 2007.  

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. was the lead bookrunner for high-grade sales in 2008, followed by Citigroup, the data showed, according to Reuters.   JPMorgan Chase also was lead bookrunner in junk bond sales, followed by Banc of America.

Meanwhile U.S. asset-backed securities issuance tumbled by 82% to $159.8 billion this year compared with a robust $898 billion sold in 2007, according to Thomson Reuters.   In the final quarter of the year, ABS supply totaled a mere $3.6 billion, compared with $106.3 billion in the prior year, as liquidity dried up and issuer financing costs soared, according to the report.

JPMorgan Securities was the top ABS underwriter in 2008 with 67 deals totaling $31.1 billion.

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