Singapore perceived as offering few opportunities for distressed debts

Almost 7 in 10 said so.

In the third quarter of 2016, Debtwire canvassed the opinions of 60 private equity investors, prop desk traders, hedge fund managers, credit risk or workout managers, and emerging market investors in the Asia-Pacific region.

Respondents were questioned about their expectations for the Asia-Pacific distressed debt and special situations market over the next 12 months.

Distressed debt in general refers to high-risk debt securities which are in default or bear a significant chance of defaulting in the near future, and typically sell at a depressed percentage of par value with a potential for high return.

Special situations, meanwhile, are circumstances in which the trade of a security is motivated by conditions pertinent to the situation, such as a change in valuation, making the situation event-driven.

When respondents were asked to rate each country in the region based on its expected distressed debt/special opportunities in the next 12 months, 67% or almost 7 in 10 say Singapore offers few opportunities; 28% say it offers some opportunities and 5% say it offers no opportunites at all.

Singapore is at the bottom of the ranking for countries offering significant opportunities.

China is rated by the most respondents (97%) as a country offering significant opportunities in distressed debt and special situations, followed by South Korea and Vietnam both at 93%.