Latest stories on Socially Responsible Investments

• European DMOs question sovereign green bond trend

  

  Debt management officials from four European countries sounded warnings about the growing sovereign green bond market at the Association for Financial Markets in Europe’s government bonds conference in Brussels this week. The warnings come as the Netherlands gears up for its debut next year. Owen Sanderson reports.

  • 15 Nov 2018

• China may be first to cut green loan risk weights after Ma calls for it

  

  Ma Jun, a member of the People’s Bank of China’s monetary policy committee, has come out in favour of altering bank capital rules to give lower risk weights for green assets — which could be a sign the PBoC is close to adopting the policy. He calls on China to lead the way and argues there is evidence green assets are less risky.

  • 15 Nov 2018

• Wake-up call for investors in human rights laggards like Heinz and Starbucks

  

  Investors need to use their voices, especially by voting at AGMs, to improve the poor performance of many companies on protecting human rights, according to supporters gathered in London on Monday for the launch of the second annual results of the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark.

  • 14 Nov 2018

• New index spotlights Big Food for US obesity

  

  The first US Access to Nutrition Index has been published for investors, aiming to guide them on which big food companies are doing better and worse at feeding the American public healthily.

  • 15 Nov 2018

• Solar ABS issuance flares up

  

  A trio of solar securitizations is progressing through the pipeline this week, giving investors a chance to get their hands on nearly $1bn of bonds tied to residential solar assets.

  • 16 Nov 2018

• SRI takes centre stage in SSA

  

  Socially responsible investment deals were the focus of attention in the primary SSA market this week, as the World Bank and the Flemish Community of Belgium sold well-received green and sustainability bonds, respectively. Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten and Eurofirma have added to the public sector SRI pipeline, which is showing no signs of slowing down as the year end approaches.

  • 15 Nov 2018

• China Exchanges launches HK biotech index

  

  China Exchanges Services Co (CESC), a joint venture between the Hong Kong, Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses, has launched an index to track the performance of Hong Kong-listed biotechnology companies.

  • 16 Nov 2018

• Samsung BioLogics faces criminal probe into IPO

  

  South Korea’s financial regulator has brought the hammer down on Samsung BioLogics, accusing it of intentionally overvaluing a subsidiary ahead of its W2.25tr ($2bn) IPO in late 2016.

  • 16 Nov 2018

• UK councils flirt with US PP funding

  

  A large UK council has held discussions with a selection of US private placement (US PP) arrangers over the possibility of raising more than £200m in a single issue, according to a senior banker familiar with the situation.

  • 15 Nov 2018

• Gazprom and Rushydro sell first Russian bonds since April sanctions

  

  Gazprom raised €1bn on Tuesday from the first public international bond sale from Russia since April saw the US imposing a punitive round of sanctions on the country. Rushydro followed on Thursday with a Rmb1.5bn ($220m) three year bond.

  • 15 Nov 2018

• World Bank USD600m 3.125% Nov 25 green bond, World Bank EUR600m 0.625% Nov 27 green bond

  • 15 Nov 2018

• Flemish Community EUR500m 1.375% Nov 33 sustainability bond

  • 15 Nov 2018

• MetLife extends revolving loan to impact fund

  

  MetLife, the US insurance company, has made an unusual investment as part of its impact investment portfolio, which has about $200m of assets. It is providing a revolving credit facility to an impact investment fund, to enable it to cope more easily with redemptions.

  • 14 Nov 2018

• ESG index tally grows 60% in one year

  

  The number of indices that give exposure to environmental, social and governance (ESG) causes has grown by 60% in the last year, according to a survey conducted by trade body, the Index Industry Association (IIA).

  • 14 Nov 2018

• AVR recycles debt

  

  The Netherland’s AVR has signed a €100m sustainable credit facility, with the waste to energy company pushing out maturities to up to seven years.

  • 14 Nov 2018

• Industrial Bank double dips in euros, dollars for green

  

  Industrial Bank Co’s Hong Kong branch has priced a dual-currency green bond, offering a pick-up of around 10bp over recent prints from China’s big four lenders.

  • 14 Nov 2018

• Who are sovereign green bonds advertising to?

  The main point of a government issuing green bonds is to communicate a message — just like with other special bond formats. But are these messages reaching the right audience?

  • 13 Nov 2018

• Duke Energy joins US utility green bond club

  Duke Energy Corp became the latest US utility to issue green bonds last week, when it priced a $1bn dual tranche offering.

  • 13 Nov 2018

• Renewables Infrastructure Group back in market with £80m cap raise

  

  Renewables Infrastructure Group, the UK renewable energy investment company, has begun bookbuilding for a £80m follow-on offering on the London Stock Exchange, after the deal was given the green light by shareholders at a general meeting on Friday.

  • 13 Nov 2018

• Swollen Cali wildfire risk hits insurance, ILS sectors

  

  Camp Fire is the most destructive wildfire in California’s history and the latest sign that insurers in the state are facing a recurring threat from blazes. Within the catastrophe bond market, the recent events have focused minds on insurance losses as usual, but also on the utility companies that have issued securities to cover their liability for losses.

  • 13 Nov 2018

• Kazatomprom prices IPO to concentrated book

  

  Kazatomprom, the world’s largest producer of natural uranium, priced a $451m IPO this week with a strong, but concentrated, book backing the deal.

  • 13 Nov 2018

• New Hope boosts three year refi to $150m

  

  Chinese agribusiness company New Hope Group has fully exercised a $50m greenshoe option on its loan to raise $150m, attracting three participants during syndication.

  • 13 Nov 2018

• Flemish Community scoops up SRI demand, BNG lines up

  

  The Flemish Community of Belgium was twice covered for its debut sustainability bond on Monday, following the completion of a pan-European roadshow last week. Meanwhile, Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten has added to the SRI pipeline after mandating banks for its second sustainability trade of the year.

  • 12 Nov 2018

• Seychelles blue bond was designed as template

  The Seychelles’ $15m blue bond, issued last month to finance sustainability improvements to its maritime economy, was designed to satisfy all the needs of socially responsible investors and could therefore be used as a template, according to bankers at Standard Chartered who worked on the deal.

  • 12 Nov 2018

• Sunrun preps solar ABS offering as pace of issuance picks up

  

  Residential solar installer Sunrun is preparing to launch an asset-backed securitization in the next few weeks after a spurt of offerings from competitors.

  • 08 Nov 2018

• Bankers see Mexico possibilities as Mexcat recovers

  

  Lat Am bond bankers did not seem overly worried about their Mexican deal pipeline despite bond markets being shocked by the cancellation of Mexico City’s new airport last week.

  • 08 Nov 2018

• Tie banker bonuses to ESG, says Euro Parliament in radical push for green finance

  

  The chances of a profound transformation of financial markets to equip them to fight climate change rose this week, when the European Parliament adopted a bold set of policies that would require investors, banks and companies to take into account their impacts on the environment and society. Bonuses would be linked to sustainability targets.

  • 08 Nov 2018

• ING goes large on its green return, eyeing dollar development

  

  ING held nothing back with the sale of its first green bond at holding company level this week, raising nearly $3bn equivalent across tranches in both euros and dollars.

  • 08 Nov 2018

• NWB EUR600m 1.5% Jun 39 affordable housing bond

  • 08 Nov 2018

• SRI pipe builds as NWB increases deal

  

  Nederlandse Waterschapsbank (NWB) will look to fill the €1bn-€1.5bn it has left to raise this year with its annual water bond benchmark and potentially a short end benchmark. That is in keeping with the wider SSA market, where bankers expect socially responsible investment (SRI) issuance to form the bulk of this year’s final trades.

  • 08 Nov 2018

• Snam spins revolver to green

  

  Utility company Snam has converted an existing €3.2bn revolving credit facility into a sustainable deal, joining the growing chorus of southern European firms switching their bank lines for environmental, social and governance-friendly financing alternatives.

  • 08 Nov 2018

• ING sets record green bond size on holdco debut

  

  A strong order book allowed ING to raise €1.5bn on Thursday with the euro leg of its first ever green holdco bond — a size that was twice as large as any other financial institution has so far achieved with an unsecured green transaction in the currency.

  • 08 Nov 2018

• LG displays green label for dollar debut

  

  LG Display Co unveiled its debut dollar bond on Wednesday, taking home $300m from a green-labelled deal.

  • 08 Nov 2018

• Mexcat bonds take off as Amlo soothes contractors

  

  Bonds issued to build Mexico City’s now cancelled new airport have risen from last week’s lows after as analysts declared the risk of default to be very low after the incoming president met with airport contractors on Monday.

  • 08 Nov 2018

• Dudgeon restores sterling market confidence

  

  TC Dudgeon Ofto — the owner of the transmission lines from the North Sea Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm — restored investors’ confidence in the sterling corporate bond market on Tuesday. It was notable, as it was a fundamentally green issuer selling bonds without green bond labels.

  • 07 Nov 2018

• NWB eyes water bond and short benchmark

  

  Nederlandse Waterschapsbank will look to fill the €1bn-€1.5bn it has left to raise this year with its annual water bond benchmark and potentially a short end benchmark. That is in keeping with the wider SSA market, where bankers expect SRI issuance to form the bulk of the last trades this year.

  • 07 Nov 2018

• UK Reit pulls £175m IPO on weak demand

  

  Multifamily Housing Reit, the UK real estate investment trust focused on rented residential properties, has postponed its £175m IPO on the London Stock Exchange, due to a lack of demand.

  • 07 Nov 2018

• ING plumps for two currencies with first green holdco

  

  ING is lining up its first ever sale of green bonds from its holding company, having made the unusual decision to sell a tranche of debt in dollars as well as euros.

  • 07 Nov 2018

• NatWest Markets mandated on debut Spanish SME CLO

  

  The transaction, Alhambra SME Funding 2018-1, comprises sub-investment grade senior secured and unsecured loans to Spanish SMEs and mid-caps originated by Be-Spoke Capital (Ireland) Ltd.

  • 06 Nov 2018

• European Parliament pushes for tougher impact disclosures

  

  The European Parliament will push for stronger rules on sustainability for investment firms and banks, after its Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee voted on Monday evening to go beyond what the European Commission is recommending.

  • 06 Nov 2018

• Hannon Armstrong readies $440m solar lease ABS

  Real estate investment trust Hannon Armstrong has announced SunStrong 2018-1, an ABS transaction backed by a pool of residential rooftop solar leases the company acquired from a solar developer.

  • 05 Nov 2018