India Bond House: Trust Investment Advisors
Broadening horizons
In a busy year for the rupee bond market on the back of 100bp of rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India between December 2024 and June 2025, Trust Investment Advisors cemented its position as a go-to arranger for complex and innovative debt transactions in India.
Trust executed 173 bonds for a total of Rs655bn (US$7.3bn) and 9.43% market share between January 1 and November 7, according to LSEG data. It delivered solutions that combined creativity, scale, and investor comfort across state-owned companies, conglomerates, nonbanking financial companies, real estate and infrastructure trusts.
The firm’s standout trade of the year was the Rs90bn Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corp transaction sold in two tranches in May and June. The transaction featured a first-of-its-kind structure that monetised mining rights to fund industrial development for the state-owned issuer. Rated AA (credit enhancement) by India Ratings and Acuite, the notes carry a state guarantee and are secured by a direct debit mechanism from the state’s RBI account, backed by a six-month liquidity buffer.
The bonds were issued at 9.3% in separately transferable redeemable principal part format, which gave investors the flexibility to select their preferred tenors of two to 10 years. The offering attracted 53 primary investors and ownership expanded to more than 1,900 investors in the secondary market within three months, aided by Trust’s active market-making and the yield pickup over AAA rated bonds of state-owned and private companies. This transaction underscored Trust’s ability, as sole arranger and structurer, to help states reduce their reliance on traditional budgetary resources.
Trust enabled major conglomerates like GMR Group and Adani Group to shift from the offshore to the onshore market, tapping local liquidity at attractive rates. GMR Energy raised Rs16bn for capacity expansion through debut high-yield four-year 11-month and 17-day bonds at 14.6%, while GMR Airports printed a Rs59bn dual-tranche issue for refinancing and investments.
Nonbanking financial companies and insurers also turned to Trust to raise Tier 2 bonds and perpetuals. The house supported infrastructure trusts with Cube Highways, Vertis Infra Trust and Mindspace REIT raising a combined Rs25.5bn from bonds. It revived public bond issues to broaden the retail investor base and improve liquidity, arranging Rs25.27bn of issuance for NBFCs despite regulatory setbacks. India’s public bond market had frozen in March 2024 following the barring of nonbank lender JM Financial from arranging public bond issues over alleged irregularities in an earlier offering, a matter that JM Financial later settled with the regulator. Issuers shifted to private placements to avoid regulatory risks.
Trust also acted as a catalyst for market expansion, bringing a diverse mix of issuers, to the bond market.
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