Aspial this morning splashed all over that they will be issuing a 5 year 5.25% bond to retail investors. For those that are unfamiliar with Aspial, they owned the Maxi-Cash pawn broking business, Goldheart Jewellery but in recent times being big as a property developer. To me I have mixed thoughts of this bond issue. Straits Times Article >  The promotional narrative puts it in competition against the Singapore Savings Bonds, and its not wrong to measure against the SSB, which is based on Singapore Government Bonds. A 10 year bond yields around 2.6% while a 5 year bond yields 1.96%. However, when comparing, we should take note whether the bonds are investment rated or not. In the case of the SGS Bonds which is backed by the Singapore Government, they are AAA rated while Aspial is currently not rated. Aspial as an entity, presents more risk. ......