Rumours swirl around the birth of ABG Sundal Collier’s convertible bond business. "The story goes that there was an English guy, a convertible bond expert, in London who had a Norwegian girlfriend who was living in Oslo. When he decided to make the move to Norway, he approached ABG – probably because the bank was at the top of the phone book – with the idea of setting up a convertible bond business," says a Norwegian bank analyst. "The rest is history."
ABG’s convertibles business began in 2003. Since then, it has grown to become a clear market leader. In Norway, the firm has a 31% share of the market, outperforming such rivals as Deutsche Bank, Citi and Barclays.
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| Knut Brundtland, CEO at ABG Sundal Collier |
"Our convertible bond distribution is world class," says Knut Brundtland, the company’s CEO. "We are setting the example for the region." And its influence goes further – ABG ranks second for the convertible bond market in Canada this year. The firm was born out of a 2001 merger between ABG Securities, based in Stockholm, and Sundal Collier & Co in Oslo, when privatization and consolidation in the sector after the regional banking crisis in the 1990s was rife.