Covered Bonds
February 12, 2025
Sporting franchises are also business organizations that operate just like other business entities. Therefore, just like other business entities sports franchises also require debt in order to fund their business. There have been various institutions such as banks and private equity firms that can provide these required loans to sporting franchises. Prima facie, it may […]
Infrastructure funding can be very important for any economy. This is the reason that governments all over the world want to continuously upgrade their infrastructure. Even a country like America which is one of the most developed nations in the world has been planning to spend $3 trillion on upgrading its infrastructure. Just like America, […]
A lot of young people are not aware of what their financial goals ideally should be. Most of them fall into the habit of trading time for money. This contract wherein one person trades their time, money, and effort for an income is called employment and is generally viewed upon favorably by the world. It […]
The risk involved in an infrastructure project does not remain the same throughout the life of a project. Instead, the risk varies depending upon the stage in which the project is. The construction phase is supposed to be the riskiest phase of an infrastructure project. This is also the phase where investors demand the highest […]
When the term “fixed income securities” is mentioned, investors immediately conjure up images of bonds in their heads. However, this is a generalization on the part of the investors. In reality, fixed income securities can refer to many different types of securities. As an investor, one must be aware of the wide range of securities […]
Finance and sustainable business practices have traditionally been considered to be separate fields. It was common for companies all over the world to participate in activism related to sustainable business practices. However, this activism was more a part of their social responsibility and would not have any impact on their bottom line. This has changed with the advent of sustainable bonds.
Sustainable bonds are a mechanism to combine the social responsibility as well as the financial structure of the company to form one integrated strategy. When the idea of sustainable bonds was first introduced to the market, it was considered to be a fad. However, with the passage of time, green bonds have become quite a rage. Today almost all major multinational companies such as Apple, Pepsi, etc. have issued sustainable bonds.
The largest financial institutions of the world such as JP Morgan Chase as well as Citibank have also been involved in the issuance of sustainable bonds. Also, important governments such as the United States and China have shown an inclination towards the issuance of such bonds. Many experts who keenly observe the areas of bond issuance and track the latest developments have concluded that, in the near future, almost 5% of the bonds which will be issued will be sustainable bonds.
Hence, it is important for every investor to understand what these bonds are and how they impact the overall markets for bond issuance.
The word sustainable-bonds is composed of two different words i.e. sustainable as well as bonds. The word sustainable is used to refer to the overall impact of the investment whereas bonds are the commonly used means of debt financing. Simply put, sustainable bonds are a specialized type of bond, wherein the issuer makes a voluntary pledge to use the proceeds realized from the bonds issue in projects which do not have a negative impact on society. This means that along with being financially viable, the projects also have to be environmentally and socially viable.
It is important to understand that sustainable bonds do overlap the areas of green bonds and social bonds. However, sustainable bonds are a wider concept.
Investors who regularly invest in fixed income securities routinely come across terms such as green bonds, social bonds as well as sustainability bonds. These terms seem quite similar. However, it is important to understand the difference between these terms.
Green bonds are meant exclusively for environmental issues. On the other hand, social bonds are meant exclusively for issues that impact the social construct of society. Sustainability bonds can be considered to be hybrid bonds. This means that the objectives of both green bonds, as well as sustainable bonds, can be considered when the proceeds from sustainability bonds are being utilized. This is what makes sustainable bonds more popular. It is easier for issuers to justify the use of the proceeds in the event of an audit. Since issuers have more flexibility, these types of bonds are becoming more popular with the passage of time.
There are several advantages that make sustainable bonds an important source of financing. Some of these advantages have been written below:
The bottom line is that sustainable debt is here to stay. Companies, investors, as well as financial institutions, need to adjust their investment strategies in order to account for the increasing number of sustainable bonds being issued in the market.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *