Asian high-yield bond issuers feel Evergrande pain

Global investors will probably demand more protection from riskier bond issuers in China and Asia by seeking higher returns and more transparency as a result of Evergrande Group’s financial woes.

Suffocating under $305 billion in debt and teetering on the brink of collapse, property developer Evergrande missed making payments to offshore bondholders twice last month and has not announced plans yet to repay those investors.

It has another eight offshore here and one onshore coupon repayments due before year end.

The failure to make payment, followed by a string of credit rating downgrades of indebted Chinese developers, has roiled China’s high-yield debt, sparked outflows and is now making asset managers jittery about issuers in the region, investors and analysts said.

Arthur Lau, Hong Kong-based PineBridge Investments head of Asia ex-Japan, fixed income, thinks the heady mix of debt woes and changing regulations in China is shifting goal posts for foreign investors.