Australian credit has generally been expensive relative to overseas markets, Richard Quin, Bentham Asset Management's Sydney-based head asset manager, said in...

Australian credit has generally been expensive relative to overseas markets, Richard Quin, Bentham Asset Management's Sydney-based head asset manager, said in a March 7 interview. For this reason, we tend to focus on global, relative value, multi-sector credit. Bentham Asset Management, whose flagship fund beat 98 percent of Australian peers over five years, is avoiding the nation's expensive credit markets to buy asset-backed debt offshore and foreign-currency notes of local banks. Better-than-expected growth and trade data this month spurred bets the Reserve Bank of Australia will raise interest rates in the next year, dimming the appeal of the nation's debt. A Bank of America Merrill Lynch gauge tracking Australian sovereign, state and corporate debt has returned 1 percent this year while its euro and sterling-denominated peers offered at least double those gains. More from Bloomberg: (VIEW LINK)