Japan Is About To Sell Its First Ever Junk Bond... With A 1% Coupon

While corporate bond yields have been plumbing ever lower lows in the yield-starved "New Normal", prompting even the world's largest bond fund Pimco to warn that this is the riskiest credit market ever, Japan is about to deliver the proverbial "hold my beer" moment to the entire world. 

Aiful, the consumer lender which almost went bankrupt a decade ago, is preparing to sell Japan’s first ever yen-denominated "high yield" - and in this case we use the term very, very loosely - in the public markets, showing how desperate for yield local investors are, and how much risk they are willing to take in exchange for virtually no return, as negative interest rates have now become the new normal.

What is most remarkable about the bond sale in the country where the 10Y yield has been trading mostly in negative territory for over half a decade, is that the 18 month yen junk bond is set to price on Friday with a coupon of, wait for it, 1%.

Another unique aspect of the upcoming issuance is that it is taking place in the first place. As Bloomberg notes, the junk bond offering will be historic for Japan's bond market, where companies haven’t felt compelled to sell below investment grade notes as they’ve traditionally had close ties with banks, who tend to be more forgiving than bondholders in tough times.

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