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London Stock Exchange today welcomed Winterflood Securities to open London's markets to celebrate the company becoming the ninth dedicated market maker on its Order book for Retail Bonds (ORB). Winterflood is the first Gilt-Edged Market Maker (GEMM) to join the platform as a market maker and has a strong track record of ensuring Fixed Income liquidity for retail investors and wealth managers.
ORB celebrates its third anniversary this week and is becoming an established platform for companies seeking alternative sources of funding. The growing popularity of retail-sized bonds is reflected in the increasing number of issuers on ORB, including London Stock Exchange Group's record £300 million issue in October 2012. The launch of the FTSE ORB Index last month, which is the first performance benchmark for retail bonds trading on ORB, also signifies the increasing maturity of the market and growing secondary market liquidity.
Pietro Poletto, Head of Fixed Income Markets at London Stock Exchange Group said:
"We are delighted to welcome Winterflood, a Gilt-Edged Market Maker to ORB. They have a strong track record in gilts and corporate bonds and with their unique primary dealer position will help improve pricing in conventional and index-linked gilts as secondary trading on the platform continues to develop and grow.
"ORB celebrates its third anniversary this week and we have been encouraged by the platform's continued growth. Over £3 billion has been raised by issuers since its launch from an increasingly wide range of sectors and there is now a proven appetite for retail-sized bonds."
Oliver Brown, Head of Fixed Income at Winterflood Securities commented:
"We are pleased to join London Stock Exchange's Order book for Retail Bonds platform. The ORB team have done a great job in attracting new issuers looking to diversify their funding to their platform. It has become an essential market place for gilts and bonds, and we are keen to bring our long standing commitment and expertise in providing deeper and richer liquidity to the platform."
There are currently 173 corporate, government and supranational bonds available for trading on ORB, which are available in accessible denominations typically between £1 and £1,000. All are exempt from stamp duty and those maturing in five years or more when purchased are eligible for inclusion in ISAs and SIPPs. Two-way prices are displayed continuously throughout the day and full prospectus details are available for each security. Private investors can access free educational information about bonds through a dedicated website www.londonstockexchange.com/bondsmadeeasy along with specific customisable tools for retail bonds to help them make informed investment decisions.
