本月，德国强大的债务管理局的局长卡尔•海因茨•道贝(Carl Heinz Daube)做了一件人们在5年前几乎无法想象或认为没有必要做的事情。
他来到中国和新加坡，与可能有意购买德国国债的两家全球最大的投资机构举行了会谈——这是为了取悦主权财富基金等一批新出现的投资者。
这股风气正在迅速蔓延。直到不久前，德国之类一直以拥有AAA级债务评级（收益率也相对较低）为荣的国家，还觉得没有必要讨好全球投资者。
但是随着政府债务负担不断加重，欧元区又因希腊财政危机而动荡不已，要求债务管理部门改善销售技巧的压力在不断增长。
道贝的中新之行表明，即便是大型经济体也需要培育债券买家，并与持有数十亿美元政府债券的主权财富基金等投资者建立关系。
中国国家外汇管理局(SAFE)和新加坡政府投资公司(GIC)所管理的资产总共估计有6000亿美元，其中约20%是政府债券。
道贝表示：“如今我们不得不进行更大规模的举债，因此对我们来说，与投资者见面是非常有意义的，这样我们可以回答他们的问题。他们很欣赏这一点。”
英国债务管理办公室(Debt Management Office)主管罗伯特•斯蒂曼(Robert Stheeman)补充称：“与投资者交流始终是件非常重要的工作，无论是与国内还是与国际投资者交流。如今，财政部和债务管理办公室比以往任何时候都更需要接触投资者，以向他们解释政府的财政立场和借款计划。”
与道贝一样，斯蒂曼去年年底会晤了亚洲若干重要的投资者，以便为英国大选前那关键的几个月做好准备。预计英国将在6周后举行大选。
这两人都认识到，他们再也不能只是简单地宣布进行国债拍卖，然后坐等国内外投资者前来购买。
这一点在去年得到了证明：由于各国为了纾困银行而大举发行国债，以及经济财政方案开始充斥市场，德国和英国的国债拍卖均曾出现流拍。
投资银行也意识到了债务管理机构希望更多接触债券买家的新需求。例如，去年花旗集团(Citigroup)在东京组织了一次会议，会上5家欧洲债务管理机构对购买了它们政府证券的100位日本投资组合经理表示了感谢。
随着监管机构对金融市场的某些领域展开整治，而其它一些领域产生的回报又不能达到金融危机前的水平，银行已着眼国债市场中的赚钱机会。
这促使许多银行想方设法获得一级交易商地位——这将使它们有权直接参与国债拍卖，从而能够通过买卖国债牟利。由于各国创纪录发行的国债提升了市场规模，这种做法已变得越来越有利可图。
近几个月来，有9家银行在美国、英国和欧洲获得了一级交易商地位。其中包括：加拿大皇家银行资本市场(RBC Capital Markets)在美国；野村证券(Nomura)在美国和英国；Jefferies在英国、德国和荷兰；法国兴业银行(Société Générale)在爱尔兰和奥地利；荷兰银行(ABN Amro)在荷兰；瑞士银行(UBS)在爱尔兰；桑坦德银行(Santander)在法国；法国巴黎银行(BNP Paribas)在丹麦。
一位资深银行家表示：“政府大规模发行国债的确为银行提供了机遇——它们既能从购买国债的财团那里赚取手续费，又能从上升的波动性中获得交易机会。”
“大多数银行已加强了自己的固定收益与政府债券部门，同时裁减了其它部门的规模，比如因金融危机而遭受打击的资产证券化部门。”
在这种新的背景下，各国政府正日益寻求主权财富基金的帮助，把它们视为购买本国国债的理想群体——尤其是在近几个月许多主权财富基金加大国债购买额的情况下。
一家新的团体——官方货币及金融制度论坛（Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum，简称：OMFIF）也由此创立。该团体的具体使命是将各国央行和主权财富基金召集到一起，帮助债务管理机构销售债券。
OMFIF本月在法兰克福组织了一次会议。逾50位央行行长、主权财富基金官员和资产管理人荟萃一堂，目的是促进这些机构在资产配置和管理等领域的对话。
OMFIF计划于5月份在吉隆坡召开类似会议。
政府债务管理机构讨好主权财富基金的必要性只可能会增加，因为今后几年国债发行规模预计将保持创纪录水平，而且人们也越来越担心所谓的“挤出效应”——巨额债务耗尽市场的吸收能力。
然而，道贝表示：“我认为我们不会落到各国政府彼此‘挤出'的地步。但如果政府仍然大举发债，那么我们在两、三年后可能会发现，国债面临着来自私营部门债务的一定程度的竞争。”
译者/君悦
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001031986
This month Carl Heinz Daube, the head of Germany's formidable debt management agency, did something that would have seemed almost unimaginable – or unnecessary – five years ago.
He travelled to China and Singapore for a meeting with two of the world's biggest investors – as part of an attempt to charm a new pool of investors, such as sovereign wealth funds – who might be willing to buy German government bonds.
The trend is spreading fast. Until recently, countries such as Germany, which have long prided themselves on having a triple A debt rating – and relatively low yields – felt little need to court global investors.
But as government debt burdens spiral higher, and the eurozone quivers as a result of the fiscal turmoil that surrounds Greece, the pressure on debt managers to refine their sales skills is rising.
What Carl Heinz Daube's trip shows is that even the big economies need to cultivate the buyers of their debt and build up their relationships with investors, such as the SWFs, which hold billions of dollars in government bonds.
China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or Safe, and Singapore's Government Investment Corporation, or GSIC, have between them an estimated $600bn in assets under management, with roughly 20 per cent held in government bonds.
Mr Daube says: “We have to borrow much higher volumes these days. Hence, it makes a lot of sense for us to meet investors, so we can answer their questions. They appreciate this.”
Robert Stheeman, head of the UK Debt Management Office, adds: “It has always been important to talk to investors, both domestic and international. But today, the Treasury and the DMO more than ever need to engage with investors to explain the government's fiscal position and borrowing programme.”
Mr Stheeman, like Mr Daube, met key investors in Asia at the end of last year as he prepared for the critical months ahead of a UK election, expected in six weeks' time.
Both men realise they can no longer simply announce a government bond auction and rely on domestic and international investors to buy their securities.
This was demonstrated last year when both Germany and the UK saw government bond auctions fail as the overwhelming supply of sovereign debt to pay for bank bail-outs and economic fiscal packages began to swamp the market.
Investment banks are also aware of the new demands on debt managers to make themselves more accessible to the people who buy their bonds. Last year, for example, Citigroup arranged a conference in Tokyo, where five European debt managers addressed 100 Japanese portfolio managers on the merits of buying their government securities.
With the regulators moving to crack down on some parts of the market, and others failing to produce the returns seen before the financial crisis, banks see opportunities to make money in the government debt markets.
This has prompted many banks to seek primary dealer status, which gives them the right to take part directly in government bond auctions, allowing them to buy and sell securities for a profit. This has become increasingly lucrative because of the higher volumes due to record issuance.
In recent months, nine banks have won primary dealer status in the US, UK and Europe. They include RBC Capital Markets in the US; Nomura in the US and UK; Jefferies in the UK, Germany and The Netherlands; Société Générale in Ireland and Austria; ABN Amro in The Netherlands; UBS in Ireland; Santander in France and BNP Paribas in Denmark.
“The large amount of government debt does provide opportunities for banks, both in the ability to make fees from government bond syndications, and the trading opportunities from the increase in volatility,” says one senior banker.
“Most banks have boosted their fixed income and government bond desks at the expense of other areas, such as securitisation that have been hit in the wake of the financial crisis.”
In this new climate, governments are increasingly turning to the SWFs as the ideal group to buy their bonds, particularly as many SWFs have increased their buying of government securities in recent months.
It has also led to the creation of a new group called the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (Omfif), which has the specific task of bringing central banks and SWFs together to help debt managers sell their bonds.
This month saw a gathering, arranged by Omfif, of more than 50 central bankers, sovereign wealth fund officials and asset managers in Frankfurt with the purpose of improving dialogue between these groups in areas such as asset allocation and management.
Omfif is planning a similar gathering in Kuala Lumpur in May.
The need for government debt managers to woo SWFs is only likely to increase as government bond issuance is expected to remain at record levels for years to come, with increasing worries over the so-called crowding out effect, where the vast amount of debt exhausts the capacity of the market to absorb it.
However, Mr Daube says: “I don't think we will ever reach a stage where governments are crowding each other out, but we could reach a point in two or three years' time where sovereigns may face quite a reasonable competition from the private sector if government issuance remains high.”
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