Supranationals and Agencies – A Year in Review
By
Sean Taor
Published February 22, 2023
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1 min read
RBC Capital Markets is would like to once again provide you with a series of roundtable discussions with issuers, investors and experts covering every area of the Supranational and European Agencies market. The panel members gave their views on the themes that mattered in 2022, and provide a view on what expect moving into 2023. This publication summarizes these conversations along with key insights and takeaways from issuers and investors. We would like to thank the issuers and investors that shared their views and experiences of the past year.
European Agencies Act Nimbly in a Challenging Environment
The consensus from our European agency panel was that despite multiple headwinds, 2022 was a successful year. All the agencies we spoke to either met or exceeded their funding targets, although volatility – exacerbated by the war in Ukraine – demanded a flexible approach. With the US dollar market offering limited windows, agencies tended to focus on the euro market while acting more opportunistically in terms of US dollar issuance, as well as across a range of other currencies. Looking forward, the hope is that that central bank actions will lead to stabilization in markets. In the meantime, 2023 will require a similarly agile approach.
Supranationals Step Up Despite Difficult Conditions
Market volatility, rising interest rates and the end of quantitative easing were all felt by supranationals in 2022. Fluctuating demand made price discovery more difficult, while issuance windows were sometimes hard to come by. However, despite lower overall issuance in the wake of Covid-driven highs, 2022 was a record year for more than one panelist’s organization. ESG-focused issuance continued to grow, and diversification into different currencies was a common theme. As we enter 2023 the list of economic and policy challenges is long, although a lot of risk is already priced in. With the future uncertain, several supranationals plan to frontload their issuance.
Sean Taor
Head, European Debt Capital Markets & Syndicate
Sean Taor has over 30 years of Capital Markets experience. He joined RBC in 2010 as Head of Public Sector Debt Capital Markets (DCM) and was appointed Head of European DCM in 2011. Prior to joining RBC he spent 18 years at Barclays where he held various Capital Market roles, including head of Rates Syndicate globally.
Sean's DCM experience is extensive - having been involved in the underwriting of over $1 trillion of syndicated fixed income transactions across SSA, Corporate and FIG issuance. He has been awarded GlobalCapital’s ‘Sovereign Banker of the Year’ and recognised as one of the ‘Top 25 most Influential DCM Market Participants’. He also represents RBC on several industry market practice and Risk Free Rates committees including ICMA’s Primary Markets Practice Committee, the Sterling RFR Bond sub-group and the SONIA Stakeholders Advisory Group.
Sean sits on RBC Europe’s Capital Markets Operating Committee and FICC Operating Committee as well as the Asset-Liability, Best Execution and Product Governance committees.
DCMDebt Capital MarketsEuropean AgenciesInterest RatesMarket VolatilityOutlookSupranationalsUS Dollar Issuance