News Round Up

Infrastructure bonds a hoax, New name for rater, New designation hits market, Direct access to AHL and CDO sails back to negative.

Monday, April 16th 2007, 5:02AM

The government's recently issued infrastructure bonds are a hoax, National Party Associate Finance spokesman Craig Foss says.

"The infrastructure bonds are a hoax." In answers to written questions, Finance Minister Michael Cullen states 'there are no infrastructure risks linked to the principal repayment at the maturity of infrastructure bonds."

"The funds are not effectively linked to infrastructure, because no premium is attached to the success or failure of any particular project," Foss says.

Foss says National is keen to look at real infrastructure bonds related to projects as way of sharing risk with private sector.

Man gives direct access to its manager

Man Investments Australia has for the first time structured an investment that provides investors with direct access to the AHL Diversified Program and the flexibility to buy or sell shares weekly.

Unlike the OM-IP funds, this fund will neither have a capital guarantee nor a second complementary investment portfolio.

Man AHL Diversified (AUD) Limited aims to generate medium term capital growth in both rising and falling markets.

Another new name for rating firm
Risk Analysis, the firm using Rapid Rating’s methodology to rate finance companies has renamed itself. The firm’s new name is Axis Rating.

Another new planning designation
Strategic Asset Management Achieves Highest Certification Strategic Asset Management has been awarded certification by the Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX).

CEFEX is a globally recognised standard, Strategic chief executive Alex Fowler says, and his firm is the first company in New Zealand to be awarded the designation.

CEFEX, is an independent rating and certification organisation based in Toronto, Canada. CEFEX works closely with the international investment community and the fiduciary industry to provide comprehensive assessments that measure risk and trustworthiness of investment fiduciaries.

“What CEFEX certification is all about,” Fowler says, “is ensuring that the company is doing everything in the most ethical method possible – and thereby significantly reducing risk to the investor.”

CDO sails back to negative
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has placed its AAp N.R.i rating on the NZDX-listed $91.5 million Series 2006-1 credit-linked notes (CLNs) issued by Credit Sail Ltd. on CreditWatch with negative implications.

This action has been taken as the underlying CDO investment has been placed on CreditWatch with negative implications because “its synthetic rated overcollateralization (SROC) level fell below 100% in the end-of-month SROC analysis for March 2007, following negative rating migration of the reference entities in the underlying portfolio.”

The subscript 'N.R.i' means that the interest on the notes is not rated.

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