Liberty Financial reported solid results for FY18, with strong growth and an equity issuance to support capital. We revise our recommendation on the June 2020 bonds to Market Perform and initiate a recommendation of Underperform on the April 2021 bonds.

We have created three new model portfolios to help clients achieve their risk and return objective. The portfolios offer differing yields and levels of risk, and demonstrate investment options for clients.

Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) reported strong 3Q18 results, beating initial consensus. Our pick is the HCA 2025 bond, which offers a high rated exposure credit and an attractive yield over 4.50%pa.

In a week of positive news for Barminco the Ausdrill merger was approved, its ratings were upgraded by three notches and its existing contracts were extended. All of these developments have substantially improved Barminco’s credit quality, making this bond a fantastic alpha generating investment option in the current investment environment.

The new 5.5 year and 10 year AUD issuance from Lendlease is expected to meet strong interest from the market. At an indicative yield of 4.35% and 5.20%, respectively, the investment grade bonds offer attractive relative value when compared to peers with similar maturities.

We believe Perth-based independent power producer Zenith Energy's amortising notes maturing in August 2025 offer good relative value compared to peers at a yield to worst of 7.18% (based on indicative mid-price).

The performance of the Class B notes of the zipMoney 2017-1 trust remains stable, with consistent arrears and loss ratio. Further, we see limited near-term regulatory risks in relation to a potential senate inquiry into the non-bank finance sector, including the 'buy-now, pay-later' segment. We maintain our Outperform* recommendation on the zipMoney notes.

We believe the draft recommendations from the Public Utilities Office regarding market reform are positive and supportive of Merredin Energy's credit profile. We have changed our recommendation on Merredin's notes to Outperform based on a yield to worst of 6.98% (quoted at an indicative mid-price of 102.02).

In a week of positive news for Barminco the Ausdrill merger was approved and its existing contracts were extended. Both of these have substantially improved Barminco’s credit quality, making this bond a fantastic alpha generating investment option in the current investment environment.

Axsesstoday (AXL) today released a notice on the ASX, advising that it was seeking to extend the suspension of its shares until the end of November and provided an update on its current business strategy review. At the same time, AXL advised it remained in contact with all its financiers with a view to presenting a long-term solution to the defaults under its debt agreements.

ERIC Insurance reported positive results for the 1st quarter of FY19, with unaudited net profit after tax of AUD0.61m. We maintain our Speculative Buy recommendation on ERIC's 10% Tier 2 subordinated notes due 2026. Our credit outlook remains negative.

Harvey 2018-1 is Credit Union Australia's (CUA) first transaction for 2018. It is a prime RMBS supported by a good quality pool of collateral.

Firstmac 2018.3 is the third term out transaction by Firstmac in 2018. It is a prime RMBS transaction supported by a good quality pol of collateral.

Recent volatility in markets had many investors adding more Investment Grade (IG) bonds to their portfolios. Our IG picks in USD are BHP Billiton 2025c, QBE 2026c, Adani Abbott Point Terminal 2022 and NCIG senior 2027. They offer investors exposure to better rated securities without sacrificing yield.

Following a Telco update from our independent credit research provider (ICRP), we have highlighted our recommendations in the sector. Sprint remains a speculative buy in the sector, AT&T a hold, and Frontier and Telstra good exit targets.

Australian corporates predominately issue fixed rate bonds. there is therefore a limited offering in the floating rate note (FRN) space, and particularly of investment grade. The pick of those is the Pacific National (formerly Asciano) FRN 2027 bond, which currently we have access to and offers relative value to its peers.

On October 2019, mining services company, Barminco Holdings (Barminco), announced that it had been awarded two four-year contracts at the Agnew gold mine By Gold Fields.

The NCIGH US dollar bond with 12.50% coupon, currently offers good value, after trading USD8 higher in price earlier this year. The bond is yielding over 8%pa, now presenting an ever more attractive entry price for new investors.

IAMGOLD (IMG) remains our pick in the USD High Yield (HY) mining sector. The current bond price, offering a yield in excess of 6.50%, is a good entry level for new investors or those looking to add to their holdings. Further bolstering this investment thesis are the recent Moody’s upgrade, a rebound in gold price and positive 2Q18 company results.

We are initiating our recommendation on Praeco.