The offshore bond market in South Korea has nose-dived in popularity among Asia-Pacific investors, Bloomberg reported, citing data showing that the country has been overtaken by China in terms of sales volume and investor appeal. Korea’s share of investment-grade dollar from Asia ex-Japan fell to just 16% this year, down from a high of 56% in 2008. Chinese issuers have emerged to take a 47% share, including Alibaba’s (BABA.NYSE) record US$8 billion offer. Whang Youn Sung, director of global capital markets at Bank of America’s local unit, explained that Korea has become “too expensive to provide much value to investors”.
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