- Over 60 additional bonds from issuers including HSBC, FirstGroup, Rolls Royce and Daily Mail & General Trust
- Evolution Securities lead market maker for new bonds
- Broadened range now includes callable bonds
From 27 September 2010 the number of instruments available for trading on the London Stock Exchange's Order book for Retail Bonds (ORB) will be significantly expanded to include an additional 65 corporate bonds and one supranational bond. This will bring the total number of corporate bonds available for trading on the platform to 89, up from 24.
Evolution Securities will act as lead market maker across the entire range of these new additions to the ORB, offering private investors continuous, on-screen two-way prices in bonds issued by companies including HSBC, Barclays, Aviva, FirstGroup, Rolls Royce, Daily Mail & General Trust, and EDF Energy. Investors will also be able to invest in callable bonds through the platform for the first time.
Investors will be able to trade the bonds in typical denominations of £1,000 or less and will not have to pay stamp duty on the transactions. Bonds which mature after five years or more are also eligible to be included in ISAs.
Pietro Poletto, Head of Fixed Income Markets at London Stock Exchange Group, said:
"This flood of new bonds marks a significant milestone in our mission to open up the bond market for private investors in the UK. From Monday, private investors will have transparent access to nearly 150 gilts, supranational and corporate bonds through our retail bond market and we're determined to grow that number further. Investing in bonds should be as simple as investing in shares for British savers. Working with Evolution Securities and a growing number of other participants, we aim to increasingly make that the case."
Michael Dyson, Head of Fixed Income Trading at Evolution Securities, said:
"The additional bonds are an important development for the retail market as investors can now easily build a relatively low cost portfolio across a wide range of names, risks, and maturities. It also reinforces the attraction of this venue for launching new retail bond issues"
ORB was launched on 1 February 2010 in response to growing demand from private investors for greater access to fixed income, and received broad political and industry support. Since then it has attracted three brand new issues specifically designed for the market from Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and Provident Financial, and a number of existing retail-sized bonds have been made available for trading on the platform.
Following the inclusion of Monday's new securities there will be 50 gilts, 89 corporate and three supranational bonds available for trading on ORB.