Corporate finance levels reach record high of £6.19 trillion
THE TOTAL value of finance provided to global businesses from loans, bonds and equity hit a record high of £6.19 trillion in 2014, law firm Allen & Overy said yesterday.
The firm’s Corporate Funding Monitor also highlighted a number of fundamental changes in the way in which corporates (excluding financial institutions and real estate companies) access finance.
Thomson Reuters data shows the type of financial products used has altered substantially from the pre-crisis norm. The value of bonds issued has risen by 70 per cent, whereas corporate loans have just exceeded pre-crisis levels of $3.87 trillion. Furthermore, alternative financiers are making ground on the banks, now accounting for 41 per cent of European corporates’ funding portfolios.
Investors are also increasingly looking to emerging markets for bond yield, with bonds in Africa, the Middle East and central Asia up a third in 2014.
“Corporates have more options than ever before,” said Angela Clist, head of the financial institutions group at Allen & Overy.