Investment Strategies
DIARY: UK Rugby Team Aims To Convert Fans Into Investors With Bond Offer

One of the most famous club rugby teams in the world is taking the plunge into the fixed income market.
Just as the late rock artist David Bowie once enlightened us all
with the idea of securitisation by issuing bonds that used his
music oeuvre as collateral, a rather different entity in the
shape of UK rugby team Harlequin FC is issuing a five-year
bond.
The bond, paying 5.5 per cent gross interest, is designed to
raise £7.5 million ($10.7 million) although the club might
issue up to £15 million to meet demand. But investors – and no
doubt the club’s fans – will be interested to know that they can
buy as little as £2,000 of this paper. Members of the club, match
ticket buyers and others can buy the paper in a so-called
priority period that ends on 3 May.
A possible “catch” for regular fixed income investors is that the
bonds cannot be traded so these are classic buy-and-hold
instruments with club loyalists and supporters in mind.
The club is marking its 150th anniversary this year and wants to
invest on and off the field. Holders of the new bonds hope recent
financial performance continues. In the financial year ending 30
June last year, it logged £17.9 million in turnover, a record,
rising 18 per cent on the previous 12 months. Club membership is
up 13 per cent, at 8,079.
An institution such as Harlequin FC may not have the financial
clout of European top-flight soccer teams, or for that matter the
riches of the late Bowie, but for some investors at least,
rugby might yield returns above and beyond the joys and pain of
watching their team scrap it out on the field of play.