One curiously dormant asset class so far this year has been convertible bonds. The second quarter of 2020, when companies rushed to market to raise funds in whatever form they could, saw bumper volumes of nearly $65 billion globally. The first quarter of 2021 was another spike, with more than $55 billion raised.
Quarterly volumes over the past three years have otherwise trended around $20 billion to $25 billion. But even against that backdrop, the start of 2022 has been poor. As of late March, volumes had reached only about $6 billion – and some $1.5
