Latest news with #Astrea
Straits Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Latest Astrea bonds over 3 times subscribed, drawing more than $3.4 billion in demand
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Fund manager Azalea increased the bond's retail tranche by 37 per cent compared to previous issuance to meet demand. SINGAPORE - Investor demand for the latest Astrea private equity (PE) bonds has surged, with total subscriptions surpassing $3.4 billion across all three classes – 3.4 times the total US$780 million (S$1 billion) issued under both the public and placement tranches. In a statement on Aug 7, fund manager Azalea Investment Management – which offered the Astrea 9 bonds – described it as its largest retail order book to date, underscoring strong investor confidence in the platform's track record and credit quality. The public offers for Class A-1 and Class A-2 bonds alone drew over $1.5 billion in valid applications – 3.5 times the combined $380 million and US$50 million offered. To meet growing demand from individual investors, Azalea increased the retail tranche in Astrea 9 by 37 per cent compared to the previous issuance, Astrea 8. For the Singapore dollar-denominated Class A-1 bonds, Azalea received $1.2 billion in valid applications from 34,969 applicants, with more than 82 per cent of the bonds allocated to those who applied for $50,000 or less. The US dollar-denominated Class A-2 bonds saw US$280 million in valid applications from 12,592 applicants, with close to 80 per cent of the bonds allocated to those who applied for US$50,000 or less. 'We are truly heartened by the overwhelming response to the Astrea 9 public offers, which resulted in the largest retail orderbook we have seen to date,' said Chue En Yaw, chief executive officer and chief investment officer of Azalea. 'With the expanded size of the public offers, our aim was to meet growing retail demand for Astrea PE Bonds – and we are encouraged by the strong participation from investors.' Azalea, an indirect subsidiary of Temasek, also stepped up investor outreach with explainer videos, seminars and a hybrid session held on Aug 4 to help retail investors better understand the offering. More retail engagement is planned through its annual Astrea Investor Day. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Asia Cambodia, Thailand agree on Asean observers monitoring truce, but fundamental differences remain Business Who loses the most from Trump's tariffs? Who wins? Singapore Flying greener will come at a price, industry players warn Singapore Liquor licences for F&B, nightlife venues extended to 4am in Boat Quay, Clarke Quay Opinion At 79, Liew Mun Leong has no time to be sentimental Singapore Student found with vape taken to hospital after behaving aggressively in school; HSA investigating Singapore Chikungunya cases in Singapore double; authorities monitoring situation closely Singapore CDC and SG60 vouchers listed on e-commerce platforms will be taken down: CDCs
Business Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
Azalea's Astrea 9 bonds over 3 times subscribed, draw more than S$3.4 billion in demand
[SINGAPORE] Investor demand for the latest Astrea private equity (PE) bonds has surged, with total subscriptions surpassing S$3.4 billion across all three classes – 3.4 times the total US$780 million (S$1 billion) issued under both the public and placement tranches. In a statement on Thursday (Aug 7), fund manager Azalea Investment Management – which offered the Astra 9 bonds – described it as its largest retail orderbook to date, underscoring strong investor confidence in the platform's track record and credit quality. The public offers for Class A-1 and Class A-2 bonds alone drew over S$1.5 billion in valid applications – 3.5 times the combined S$380 million and US$50 million offered. To meet growing demand from individual investors, Azalea increased the retail tranche in Astrea 9 by 37 per cent compared to the previous issuance, Astrea 8. For the Singapore dollar-denominated Class A-1 bonds, Azalea received S$1.2 billion in valid applications from 34,969 applicants, with more than 82 per cent of the bonds allocated to those who applied for S$50,000 or less. The US dollar-denominated Class A-2 bonds saw US$280 million in valid applications from 12,592 applicants, with close to 80 per cent of the bonds allocated to those who applied for US$50,000 or less. 'We are truly heartened by the overwhelming response to the Astrea 9 public offers, which resulted in the largest retail orderbook we have seen to date,' said Chue En Yaw, chief executive officer and chief investment officer of Azalea. 'With the expanded size of the public offers, our aim was to meet growing retail demand for Astrea PE Bonds – and we are encouraged by the strong participation from investors.' Azalea also stepped up investor outreach with explainer videos, seminars and a hybrid session held on Aug 4 to help retail investors better understand the offering. More retail engagement is planned through its annual Astrea Investor Day. The bonds will begin trading on the Singapore Exchange on Aug 11, 9 am.
NZ Herald
6 days ago
- NZ Herald
‘Specks' of hair lead Fairfax police to ID boy found murdered 53 years ago
In 2003, the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children released a computer-generated sketch of Carl and was flooded with the most tips the organisation has ever received about a case in Virginia, said Brooke Wright, assistant police chief in Fairfax County. But every tip was a dead end. The next year, detectives with Fairfax County police's cold case squad were reviewing evidence from the original case file. They found 'little specks [of hair], like razor stubble,' said Melissa Wallace, a cold case detective. It was enough hair to test for a DNA match, but the search of a national database came up empty. Twelve years later, detectives attempted to exhume Carl's body for more DNA, but his tombstone had been washed away by a storm, Wallace said. The hair would be their only hope. The case sat cold for several more years, until detectives sent some of the hair to a California-based lab, Astrea Forensics. Astrea, which typically requires at least 2cm of hair – 10 times the amount police provided – for genetic testing, was able to build a DNA profile and link Carl to a Philadelphia woman named Vera Bryant. Vera Bryant died in 1980, but police interviews with family revealed she travelled to Virginia in June 1972 with her boyfriend, James Hedgepeth, and two sons – Carl, 4, and James, who was 6 months old. When Vera Bryant and Hedgepeth arrived, the children were nowhere to be found, White said. But neither was ever reported missing. Detectives had searched the Lorton area for days but never found another body, said White, especially because they didn't know to be looking for one. 'The baby may have been discarded along the route, but he has never been located,' she said. Hedgepeth was convicted of murder in 1962 for an unrelated case and was not the father of either boy, White said. Police are asking the public for any information that might help the investigation. 'Perhaps somebody witnessed something along that route that day, or maybe Vera or James confided in someone before they died,' Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said. 'Maybe another jurisdiction recovered a 6-month-old baby's remains and didn't have any way to tie it to this case.' Now that Carl Bryant's body has been identified, police said they hope to place a bench in his honour in the area they know he is buried in.
CBS News
6 days ago
- CBS News
1972 murder victim identified 50 years later as Carl Bryant, a 4-year-old boy from Philadelphia
A body found in a Washington, D.C. suburb more than 50 years ago has been identified as a 4-year-old boy from Philadelphia, police said this week. Fairfax County, Virginia, police said advanced DNA testing and genome sequencing led to a positive identification on the body of a juvenile homicide victim found in 1972 in a creek in Lorton, an area south of the capital just off Interstate 95. The boy was found June 13, 1972, in Massey Creek, and his cause of death was ruled to be blunt force trauma. Several efforts were made to get tips from the public on a possible identity for the boy, but there were no viable leads. Efforts to create a computer-generated sketch of how the boy looked and match strands of his hair to DNA existing in a national database were also not successful. Eventually, a small strand of hair was recovered from the remains and sent for a chance at genome sequencing, which turned out successful. "The lab, Astrea in California, had said that normally they require at least 2 centimeters of hair to do testing. And I said, 'Well, I don't know if I have even 2 millimeters of hair to send you,'" Detective Melissa Wallace said in a news conference Monday. "They said well, send it anyway and we'll see what we can do." From that tiny sample, Astrea was able to get a DNA profile that pointed to a Vera Bryant, who used to live in Philly. Vera Bryant's body was later exhumed to confirm the DNA link. On July 1, DNA from Vera's body was confirmed to match the remains found in Virginia. Investigators believe Vera and her boyfriend James Hedgepeth, both of whom are now dead, were involved in Carl's murder — and that Carl's infant brother James was killed around the same time. The killings are believed to have occurred somewhere between Philadelphia and Middlesex County, Virginia. Relatives told police that Vera Bryant was Carl's mother and that Carl disappeared after they left for Virginia in 1972. Police believe James Bryant's body could have been discarded somewhere along the route of the trip to Virginia. Authorities are still asking for help in the investigation — seeking tips from any law enforcement agency with unidentified infant remains from the 1970s, or any individual who remembers the family. Tipsters can contact the Fairfax County Police Department at 703-246-7800, option 2 or Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS.
Straits Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Astrea bonds open up private market for S'pore retail investors, but note the risks, say observers
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Astrea 9 will be the sixth series of listed PE bonds with tranches for public subscription. SINGAPORE – With interest rates on flagship savings accounts coming down, fixed deposits becoming less attractive and rates on risk-free Singapore government securities also coming off highs, retail investors are looking around for places to park their spare cash. Many flocked to the auditorium at the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in Shenton Way on Aug 4 evening to find out more about the Astrea series of private equity (PE) bonds issued by Azalea, an indirect subsidiary of Temasek Holdings. The private markets were traditionally out of the reach of retail investors until 2018, when the Astrea IV series of PE bonds was launched. Astrea 9 will be the sixth series of listed PE bonds with tranches for public subscription. Mr Kyith Ng, founder of financial blog Investment Moats, said a private equity fund invests in companies which are not listed. By buying this Astrea 9 PE bond, a retail investor is essentially lending money to a portfolio of 40 PE funds which invest in 1,086 unlisted firms, as opposed to buying a corporate bond issued by a listed company. A bond issued by a private equity fund is considered to be riskier, he noted. According to the product highlights sheet of Astrea 9, there may be a limited trading market for the bonds, which thus poses liquidity risks. Retail investors must be prepared to hold these PE bonds until maturity as they may not be able to sell their bonds at a price which is attractive, or even sell them at all. In addition, there is no guarantee of returns, so investors may lose all or part of their investment. Notwithstanding the risks, Mr Ng said there are safeguards in place to prioritise the half-yearly interest coupon payments and the final principal amount to retail bondholders. He added that the diversified portfolio of 40 PE funds further reduces the risks for retail investors. Azalea is offering $380 million of Class A-1 bonds at a fixed interest rate of 3.4 per cent a year, as well as US$50 million (S$64.4 million) of Class A-2 bonds at a fixed interest rate of 5.7 per cent a year. The Class A-1 Bonds are denominated in Singapore dollars, while Class A-2 Bonds are denominated in US dollars. Investors applying for the Class-A2 bonds will pay in Singdollars at the fixed exchange rate of $1.2852 for every US$1. If they are subsequently allotted less than the amount they applied for, they will be reimbursed in Singdollars at the same exchange rate. The bonds are backed by cash flows from a portfolio of PE investments that is diversified across sectors from information technology (31 per cent), industrials (21 per cent) and healthcare (15 per cent) to financials (8 per cent) and consumer discretionary (8 per cent). The portfolio is also diversified across geographical regions, with the bulk of the focus in the United States (66 per cent), Europe (26 per cent) and Asia (8 per cent). Senior lab technician Dallas Goh, 34, has been buying the PE bonds since Astrea IV, when these investments were first made available to retail investors. It is no different this time round. Mr Goh is using $25,000 to subscribe for the US-dollar version and $25,000 for the Singapore-dollar version of Astrea 9. He is expecting strong interest in the latest series of PE bonds and thinks he can get at most $10,000 worth for each tranche. Mr Goh was initially going to apply only for the US dollar-denominated tranche of Class A-2 bonds but changed his mind after UOB announced on Aug 1 that it will drop the deposit rates on its flagship UOB One account from Sept 1. 'I think rates will be dropping at the other banks soon. So I might as well just lock in some money for the Singdollar denominated bond even though the rates are not too ideal,' he said. He added that he is not too concerned about the weak US dollar, which will eat into his returns in Singdollar terms. 'The US dollar still has strength as a global reserve currency,' he noted. The US dollar index, which measures the value of the US dollar against a basket of six major foreign currencies like the Japanese yen and the euro, is down around 9 per cent from the beginning of the year to Aug 4, but remains off its year-to-date low of 96.776 on July 2. Mr Lim Jun Jie, director of investor solutions and marketing at Azalea Investment Management, said that holders of the US-dollar denominated tranche of Class A-2 bond face exchange rate risks as the coupons and principal amount are paid out in US dollars. The bonds are held in the Central Depository (CDP) and any cash distributions in US dollars are by default converted into Singapore dollars at the prevailing exchange rates. Retail investors who wish to hold on to their cash in US dollars will have to opt out of this currency conversion service, he noted. A first-time retail investor in Astrea who prefers to be known only as Ms Kim decided to dip her toes into Astrea 9 with around $20,000 to $30,000 for the Singapore-dollar tranche. The 54-year-old was sceptical at first, but after attending the seminar, she said she felt reassured that her investments would be relatively safe. 'Azalea is a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings,' she said, adding that she has confidence in the investment company. To which point, Mr Chue En Yaw, chief executive and chief investment officer of Azalea Investment Management, clarified that Astrea PE bonds are 'not guaranteed by anybody, including Temasek'. Mr Goh added that Azalea has a track record of redeeming its bonds so far. In addition, they are rated A bonds, so they should have a rather low default rate, he said. According to Azalea, the PE bonds issued by Astrea III, Astrea IV and Astrea V have been fully redeemed and retail investors have got back their principal. The Astrea VI Class A-1 bonds for retail investors are also on track to be fully redeemed on March 18, 2026, Azalea noted. Cash flows are typically generated from the 40 PE funds when they exit or sell their underlying investee companies. Some of that money goes towards paying interest coupons and to be set aside as cash reserves for the repayment of the principal. Azalea's Mr Lim noted that cash reserves are set aside every six months and if by the five-year mark, not enough has been set aside, Azalea will extend the bonds and retail investors will be compensated with an additional percentage point increase in the interest rate. This means Class A-1 bondholders get 4.4 per cent a year, while Class A-2 bondholders will get 6.7 per cent a year. 'That higher interest rate will apply until such time that Azalea reserves enough cash in the reserve accounts to redeem the bonds,' he said, adding that a review will be done every six months. High on potential investors' minds will be whether the interest rates are commensurate with the risks. Investment Moats' Mr Ng used the Nikko AM SGD investment grade corporate bond ETF to get a rough gauge on the yield for Singdollar corporate bonds. That fund has a weighted average maturity of 5.89 years and a weighted average yield to maturity of 2.86 per cent, according to its most recent June 2025 factsheet. The yield to maturity is the expected annual rate of return if the bond is held to maturity. This compares with 3.4 per cent a year for the Singdollar version of Astrea 9. As for US-dollar corporate bonds, the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF gives a rough indication. That fund has a weighted average maturity of eight years and a weighted average yield to maturity of 5.08 per cent as at Aug 1. That compares with 5.7 per cent a year for the US-dollar version of Astrea 9. Both the Class A-1 and Class A-2 Bonds have a final maturity of 15 years on Aug 8, 2040. However, the bonds can be redeemed at the end of five years on the scheduled call date, which falls on Aug 8, 2030. The public offer for Astrea 9 closes on Aug 6 at noon and the bonds are expected to be issued on Aug 8. The Class A-1 bonds and Class A-2 bonds are expected to list and start trading on the mainboard of the SGX on Aug 11.
