Korea’s 50-Year Bond Shows Aging Investors Want Mature Debt

  • Yield demand will lure investors, Standard Life’s Catlow says
  • UN predicts ratio of Asians aged over 60 will double by 2050
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

South Korea’s first-ever sale of 50-year bonds is drawing investor interest from Edinburgh to Tokyo, driven by tumbling global yields and aging populations.

A change in international accounting rules is funneling cash into longer maturities just as record-low borrowing costs prompt more issuers to sell so-called super-long bonds. China and Thailand have already started issuing 50-year debt, and there is speculation Japan will do the same. Korea’s treasury will offer the securities as soon as possible, potentially in September, a finance ministry official who declined to be named saidBloomberg Terminal last week.