(Finance) – In this first quarter of 2023, the Italian minibond market has passed an important milestone: that of 1,500 issues from 2014 to today, with over 1,000 companies that have decided to use the tool. From 2018 to today, the period in which our analysis focuses, a total of 1,186 minibonds were issued, of which 150 listed on the segment ExtraMOT Pro and 1,036 privately placed, for a total value of approximately 7 billion euro.
After a record 2022 – characterized by 302 issues for a total value of over EUR 1.7 billion – during the first quarter of 2023 we witnessed a contraction in the number of issues, only 17 (of which one listed on the segment
ExtraMOT Pro of Borsa Italiana) for a total value of 110.3 million.
S observes an ever-increasing number of floating rate issues: in 2022 and in the first quarter of 2023 almost 50% of issues (152 securities out of a total of 319) are characterized by a variable coupon, generally indexed to the Euribor.
Another type of variable coupon can be found in the Sustainability-Linked Bonds, bonds that are issued to finance corporate strategies focused on the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda. These instruments envisage mechanisms for reducing the coupon rate upon the achievement of pre-established sustainability objectives such as, for example, the reduction of CO2 emissions, the increase in the shares of renewable energy used or the obtaining of ESG ratings by independent agencies.
Despite a first quarter of 2023 characterized by a contraction in emissions, the record numbers recorded in 2022 confirm the effectiveness of the minibond instrument in supporting the growth of Italian SMEs.
The focus on the real economy and the financing of PMI is one of the cornerstones of the Group’s strategy, as evidenced by the results for the first quarter of 2023, which indicate an investment on private markets of 6.7 billion (approximately 12% of assets under management), up 5% on the figure recorded in end 2022.
Azimut Direct is a central element of the Group’s strategy on private markets: our goal is to build a bridge between institutional investors and Italian SMEs, thus facilitating the latter’s access to capital markets.
(Photo: Photo by Mathieu Stern on Unsplash)