By Geoffrey on September 30, 2019
On September 30, 2019 The
Asset reported that “HSBC Global
Asset Management (HSBC GAM) is currently fundraising for an emerging market
green impact bond fund that it hopes to raise a total of US$750 million for by
the end of November. This fund already has the International Finance Corp (IFC)
as one of its anchor investors.
Previously, HSBC GAM had launched a low carbon bond fund in September
2017 that raised US$230 million in assets under management (AUM). This core
global credit fund aims to create a portfolio that has a lower carbon footprint
than its reference benchmark Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Corporates
Diversified Index Hedged USD.
‘Fundamentally what ESG is all about is thinking more broadly about the
issues that a company has to deal with in its everyday business. We are doing
two things. One is we identify these issues, find out if they are material, and
whether we bring them into the investment process. We ask if the fund manager
is making a better-informed decision and is aware of these ESG issues. And then
the second thing we do is we offer specific solutions,’ says Sandra Carlisle,
head of responsible investment at HSBC GAM.
HSBC GAM recently received an A-plus rating in almost all relevant
areas from the Principle of Responsible Investing (PRI), the international
network of ESG investors supported by the United Nations. The A-plus rating
corresponds to a top quartile ranking. This is considered a significant
achievement particularly in fixed income, where less than 10% of asset managers
are awarded A+ rating.”
You may read the article on The Asset ESG Forum internet site.
Posted in 2019, Asia, Fixed Income, Impact Investing, Sustainability
By Geoffrey on September 25, 2019
On September 25, 2019 Bloomberg
reported that “(t)e Climate Finance Leadership Initiative (CFLI) and the
Association of European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI) today announced
a partnership that will advance the public-private collaboration vital to
closing the climate finance gap in emerging markets. EDFI and the CFLI will
engage their members with the aim of building project pipelines, managing
risks, and broadening opportunities for private-sector financing and investment
in emerging and frontier markets.”
The announcement was made at the
Bloomberg Global Business Forum.
According to Bloomberg, “(t)his
partnership is a response to the solutions outlined in Financing the
Low-Carbon Future, the recently-released report from the CFLI,
which offers a private-sector perspective on the actions needed to accelerate
climate finance.
As part of the partnership, the
CFLI and EDFI will work with their members on efforts to:
- Originate, structure, and co-finance low-carbon opportunities on a deal-by-deal basis or through pooled investment vehicles;
- Explore the development of structured finance and portfolio investment solutions to meet the needs of institutional investors and increase the availability of efficient financing for developers;
- Identify and deploy incremental risk mitigation tools, such as first loss cover available from concessional capital providers; and
- Support policy engagement efforts on enabling environments to attract private sector capital and use joint projects wherever possible to help highlight sound policy standards.
To learn more about this joint initiative from the CFLI and the EDFI, visit Bloomberg.com/CFLI.”
You may read the article on the Bloomberg internet site.
Posted in 2019, Finance, Sustainability