* Development bonds seen as source of new customers
* Uridashis from international agencies weathering euro woes
* Top-rated issuers give savers a sense of security
By Kaori Kaneko
TOKYO, May 17 (Reuters) - Japanese households, with $8.7 trillion in cash and savings, are becoming a bigger target for foreign currency development bonds, with securities firms hoping the higher yields and social contributions will attract more savers.
Retail investors, used to chronically low domestic returns, have traditionally been a market for foreign currency debt issued in Japan, known as uridashi bonds, in particular in higher yielding currencies such as the Australian dollar.
Now securities firms are adding a new angle: development bonds to fund water and "clean energy" projects. And they say investor interest in debt from top-rated international agencies is weathering turbulence from the euro zone's fiscal problems.
Last month, Daiwa Securities sold rand and Aussie dollar bonds from the Asian Development Bank to finance water schemes and this month it is offering an "ecology bond" for the European Investment Bank to finance projects to prevent climate change.
It says the two tranches it sold for the ADB, totalling 60 billion yen ($650 million), are the largest of these types of bonds yet sold in Japan.
The push has been led by Satoru Yamamoto, Daiwa Securities' deputy general manager for product planning, who says the debt is appealing as it is simple for investors to understand and as it is clear exactly how funds will be used.
"Japan has lagged behind in business like this and I would like to increase it," said Yamamoto, 35, who branched into development bonds after working with the International Finance Corporation on a microfinance bond project in 2009.
Uridashi bonds to fund social and environmental projects have totalled 145 billion yen so far this year, compared with 92 billion yen last year and 44 billion yen in 2008, Daiwa Securities says.
The issuance is roughly a third of the broader foreign-currency uridashi market, where supply for this year totalled about 436 billion yen by April, according to Reuters calculations.
Outflows of Japanese savings into foreign currency-denominated assets and uridashi bonds have helped push the yen down in the past and the currency market is watching the appetite of ordinary Japanese for foreign assets -- although the tide is not that strong just now, with the yen remaining firm.
Bond houses say development bonds are attracting new customers who want top-rated issuers, better returns than they get domestically, and a sense of making a social contribution.
"It would be a lie if I say there is no impact at all from Greece's fiscal trouble. But from a currency perspective, the Australian dollar has slipped from its highs, making it easier for investors to buy these bonds," Yamamoto said.
"I don't see investors refraining from investment in such bonds from top-rated issuers so far."
IMPORTANT MARKET, YOUNGER INVESTORS
Households' cash and savings hit a record 803.5 trillion yen at the end of 2009 and securities firms are trying to tap this source of funds.
About 49 billion South African rand, or $6.4 billion, in uridashi bonds mature this year, and they hope the bonds issued by big non-sovereign entities will keep people invested.
Nomura Securities and HSBC have handled bonds supporting environmental projects this year and Mizuho Securities sold New Zealand dollar-denominated "clean energy" bonds issued by the African Development Bank (AfDB) in March.
The AfDB is no stranger to the uridashi market but the bonds were its first in this field for Japanese retail investors.
HSBC and Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, which both sold vaccine bonds in 2009, intend to do more of these.
"We would like to offer not just bonds with higher coupons but also an opportunity for customers to get involved in the world," said Kenichi Tatsuzawa, CEO at HSBC Securities in Japan.
Volatility risk in emerging currencies mean 2- to 3-year bonds are popular, and the main market is affluent retirees.
But Daiwa's Yamamoto also wants to attract younger people.
"Those who are in their 20s and 30s won't be interested in uridashis simply with higher yielding currencies," he said.
"But we can explore the younger generation with bonds which have a social and environmental character." (Editing by Charlotte Cooper)