Believe it or not, this is our third edition of the Sustainable Fixed Income Handbook.
We all remember how 2020 started, the year everything was finally supposed to start: the dawn of a new sustainable decade. Instead, the world has faced the strangest period this generation has known. A ‘temporary new normal’ which never seems to end.
Meanwhile, investors continue to invest, and sustainable investment practice continues to grow. In this issue, there is plenty of evidence that sustainable fixed income is finally coming of age and there are no more excuses for asset owners to make the right choices.
On the one hand, ESG integration in fixed income has proved as effective for credits as for equities in fundamental strategies. The same three letters have also earned their space in passive strategies.
Bondholder engagement has finally climbed the agenda as well, even in sovereign bonds! Who would have ever thought that holding govies would ever become a tool to stir the political agenda? Let’s not forget that exclusions, one of the powerful tools used by asset owners to take a stand, can also be effective in the fixed income world.
Quietly but surely, the green bond market has continued to spread and establish its legitimacy. What was once only wishful thinking has become reality: green bondholder can influence corporate decisions and stir financing away from fossil-fuel projects.
Finally, all the way up north, the Icelandic market is just one example of how well green and social bonds are faring in the Nordics.
We hope you enjoy this update and find the tools to guide you towards making better investment choices in 2021.
Tired of flipping the book? Access individual articles or download the pdf here!
1. the editor’s word
2. The Growing Role of ESG in Fixed Income, by Mahesh Jayakumar, MFS Investment Management
3. No excuse for inaction How sovereign debt investors can engage on ESG issues, by Carmen Nuzzo, PRI
4. Green Bonds Growing in Europe, by David Zahn, Franklin Templeton
5. The Power of Green Bond Investors: Adani & the Carmichael Mine, a case study with Ulf Erlandsson, Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute
6. The Art & Science of Exclusions, an interview with Kristoffer Dreiman, Länsförsäkringar
7. Beyond Green Labels, an interview with Vishal Khanduja, Calvert
8. Icelandic Finance Goes Green, by Andri Guðmundsson and Ásgeir Kröyer, Fossar Markets
9. ESG Excess Returns for All Seasons, by Filipe Albuquerque, in conversation with Florian Cisana, UBS
