Astrea Bond is Back! If you are looking to invest for passive income, you should continue reading.
Azalea Asset Management is listing the Astrea 8 private equity (PE) bonds in July. This will be the fifth retail bond giving Singapore investors access to the PE asset class. In this article, I’ll cover:
What is Astrea Bond?The track record of Astrea BondsIs it worth investing in Astrea 8 Bonds?How to subscribe to Astrea 8 Bonds
What is Astrea Bond?
Astrea 8 is fully owned by Azalea Asset Management, which is wholly owned by Seviora Holdings. Seviora Holdings is indirectly owned by Temasek Holdings.
So, Astrea Bonds comes with the strong backing of Temasek Holdings. Although Temasek doesn’t guarantee these bonds, many people feel more confident investing in them because of the association.
Astrea 8 will issue two classes of bonds: Class A-1 (SGD-denominated) and Class A-2 (USD-denominated):
ClassA-1A-2Expected Ratings (Fitch)A+ sfA sfTenor15 Years15 YearsCurrencySGDUSDCallable Date5th year (July 2029), coupon steps up by 1% if not called6th year (July 2030), coupon steps up by 1% if not calledYield Guidance (p.a.)4.00% to 4.50%6.00% to 6.50%Lot SizeS$10,000 with increments of S$10,000US$10,000 with increments of US$10,000History and Track Record of Astrea Bonds
Astrea IV was the first retail bond available to Singapore investors, launched in June 2018. You can read about past launches in my previous articles about Astrea Bonds.
Recently, in June, I just updated my clients that Astrea V would redeem all Class A-1 Bonds on 20 June 2024. Those who owned Astrea V A-1 Bonds should have received the principal amount and unpaid accrued interest with a 0.5% bonus. I said that I anticipated a new Astrea bond issue, and here we have Astrea 8.
Astrea Bonds have shown a reliable track record of meeting redemptions:
Astrea III (2016), Astrea IV (2018), and Astrea V (2019) were all redeemed at their callable dates.Astrea