Westpac teams up with World Bank to launch sustainable bonds
The World Bank (international Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD) has partnered with two banks, Westpac and BNP Paribas, to launch the first Sustainable Growth Bonds for Australian investors.
The bonds would be offered to clients of the Westpac Group through Westpac Private Bank, St George Private and Bank of Melbourne Private.
The bonds’ returns would be linked to an index that tracked the stock performance of companies advancing global development priorities set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including, climate, gender equality, health, education and sustainable infrastructure.
This index included 30 companies of which each would need to dedicate at least one fifth of its activities to sustainable products and would need to be recognised leaders in their respective industries on socially and environmentally sustainable issues.
The bank said that initially the bonds would be issued in Australian dollars with a minimum investment amount of AUD 100,000 and arranged by BNP Paribas as part of the “SDGs Everyone” initiative.
The World Bank, which has high issuer credit ratings and will provide capital protection at bond maturity, issued in excess of US$1.5 billion in bonds under the initiative for institutional and retail investors.
AUTHOR
Oksana Patron
Recommended for you
Outflows from an Australian private markets fund manager have caused FUM at Pacific Current to decline by $1 billion in the last quarter.
Former RIAA chief executive Simon O’Connor has joined the ethical advisory panel at U Ethical Investors.
Financial services leaders are “all cashed up with nowhere to grow” when it comes to M&A activity, according to Deloitte, with 90 per cent saying they have strong balance sheets ready for an acquisition.
As fund managers are urged to diversify their product ranges, they are finding a faster way to do this is via an acquisition of existing firms but experts say it is not without potential culture clashes.
