For all the hurdles faced by lenders, there are bank bonds out there that investors can't get enough of. State Bank of India’s (SBI’s) perpetual notes — so called because they lack a fixed maturity date — are being hoarded and hunted by traders betting the nation's biggest lender will buy them back within the next 10 weeks as it puts its capital structure in line with Basel regulations.
That’s created a trading opportunity for investors like Carl Wong of Nexus Investment Advisors and Raj Kothari of Jay Capital, who say SBI’s perpetual bonds are the only notes that have yet to be redeemed as part of the revamp.
