Bloomberg
07/24/2021 9:45 AM
Clarín.com
Economy
Updated 07/24/2021 9:45 AM
Argentina's largest investment fund, which is part of ANSeS, the state retirement and pension administrator, is quietly becoming
the largest buyer of
long-term local
company debt
.
Anses' fund management arm bought
about 80%
of YPF's recent dollar-tied local bonds from a unit of Albanesi and Pan American Energy, known as PAE, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified. because the fund's participation in the auctions is private.
The bonds also represent one of the longest-term local issues by Argentine companies in the last two years, given that
PAE's dollar-linked security expires in 2031 and YPF's in 2032.
The
Anses
Sustainability Guarantee Fund
, which reports its public holdings on a quarterly basis, is partially purchasing these bonds to
comply with a local regulation known as “subsection L”,
which establishes that it must allocate 5% of its total assets to
investments related to infrastructure by the end of 2023
, up from 2% today.
Oil and gas and utility company bonds, which are considered
“production projects,”
conform to that standard.
That means
the fund manager would need to invest an additional $ 2 billion over the next two and a half years
to meet its goal, one of the people said.
The value of Anses' total assets was
US $ 40 billion
in the first quarter.
Officials have started talks with companies like
Vista Oil & Gas
to encourage them to issue similar debt this year, according to two people close to the negotiations.
Representatives for Anses and YPF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
An Albanesi spokesperson declined to comment on Anses' involvement, but said the bonds will finance an expansion of its power plant in Ezeiza.
A PAE spokesperson said several institutional investors participated in the sale, but declined to specify the proportion.
In Vista they didn't want to talk either.
Other local fund managers were
reluctant to buy the bonds
due to the relatively long maturity dates, according to Mariano Calviello,
Banco Galicia's
head portfolio manager
, who said
Galicia was not involved in any of the sales
.
Bonds maturing in more than 24 months are considered
too volatile
, especially amid the economy's poor growth prospects and
ahead of the
November legislative
elections
, he added.
Almost a year after the country restructured $ 65 billion in foreign debt, its sovereign bonds remain under pressure.
The economy is preparing for its
third year of recession
and Argentines face inflation exceeding 50% and high unemployment rates.
Recent sales that Anses participated in include:
- A US $ 384 million bond from Argentina's main energy producer, YPF, maturing in 2032.
- A US $ 260 million bond sold by Pan American Energy due 2031
- A US $ 99 million bond sold by Generación Mediterránea, a unit of power generator Albanesi.
NE
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