...Asset Managers Bowing Out: Two-thirds of investors stated that they are switching to other assets than covered bonds in reaction to the European Central Bank (ECB) purchase programme. This is also reflected in the lower number of responses to this year's survey, received from 35 institutions, compared with 52 in 2014. However, the inertia of invested portfolios prevents a drastic change in asset allocation; the largest proportion of respondents is likely to keep holdings more or less the same (41%), although decreasing holding intentions (37%) gained ground compared to last year (30%). Market Dynamics Concerns: The surveyed investors identified decreasing secondary market liquidity (74%) and European quantitative easing (60%) as the main challenges facing the covered bonds market. By contrast, they consider interest rate rises a remote threat, and rating volatility was at the bottom of the watch list. In the current low-yield environment, the issuer's country and the covered bonds' rating...
