Citigroup Inc. has been named the top underwriter for 2009 in the category of U.S. dollar-denominated corporate bonds and is the only bank in the top 10 to report an increase in U.S. underwriting market share last year, according to the data provider Dealogic.
Citigroup won a 14.97% market share in 2009, having underwritten 300 deals totaling $158.1 billion. This was nearly double its 2008 volume of $85.3 billion when it placed third to Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
More than $1 trillion of investment-grade bonds were sold in 2009 — a record, Dealogic reported.
But with investors buying corporate bonds as an alternative to the paltry yields on Treasury securities, some think the record could be broken this year. Others think 2010 may be more modest. "I think we can break that record in 2010," said Bob Gorham, a managing director at Broadpoint Capital in New York.
