It's time to turn to bonds – Stanchart urges investors

Company News from Saturday, February 9, 2019

Source: thebftonline.com

2019-02-09

Bonds, not equities, are the best investment options in emerging markets such as Ghana in 2019, as they offer investors quick cash or near cash options, said the management report. of Standard Chartered Bank for 2019.

"We are more optimistic about bonds in 2019 than in early 2018 and expect positive returns." Emerging market bonds should exceed the obligations of development markets, "said Setor Quashigah, head of wealth management at Standard Chartered Bank.

"We have incredible bonds with very attractive interest rates. If you have unused currencies or currencies, it's time to buy a Ghanaian Eurobond, as projections show that emerging market bonds like Ghana are more attractive and we have sovereign support. she added during a press briefing on the bank's global outlook for 2019 and its wealth offer in Accra.

With yields on the six Ghanaian dollar denominated bonds, currently offering from 5.87% to 9.39%, while the local stock market yield is -3.33% since the beginning of the year. 39 year, Ms. Quashigah believes that bonds are the solution. 2019.

"At this point, investing in bonds, including bonds denominated in US dollars, is perfect. Why keep your dollars in a deposit account that pays nothing when you can sit here in Ghana and invest in those bonds? We would like to have a lot of obligations because they are safer and easier to get out, "she said.

In addition to dollar-denominated bonds, she also touted the benefits of cedi-denominated ESLA bonds, which were sold at 19% coupon rates for 7-year paper and 19.5% for 10-year paper. but are currently 19.3% and 20.6% respectively in the secondary market.

"Cedis-denominated bonds, such as ESLA bonds, are very good and sustainable," she said, while urging investors to trust Standard Chartered Bank's broad wealth management products to generate value. for their investments.

"We continue to focus on establishing our leadership in consulting services and providing solutions that meet the growing needs of our clients. Digitization is at the heart of our client's proposal and end-to-end experience will remain a key priority for us to generate more personalized engagement, from advice to service, "she said.

She presented products such as consulting services on the bank's investment prospects, managed investments, mutual funds, forex, bancbadurance, credit / credit solutions and digitization.