Pandemien har givet et kolossalt løft til udstedelsen af ESG-obligationer. Fonde med ESG-obligationer er blevet tredoblet til 45 milliarder dollar efter pandemiens start og efter flere år med meget lille vækst. Virksomheder har fået en betydelig interesse i at bruge grønne obligationer og obligationer, der er forbundet til “sustainability”, som indebærer, at virksomhederne skal leve op til kravene fra ESG-regelsættet. Disse obligationer giver en billigere finansiering, og de kan være med til at give virksomhederne en miljørigtig profil. Det er grønne obligationer samt sustainability-linked obligationer, der er vokset mest, viser en analyse fra Deutsche Bank, mens der ikke har været rift efter obligationer, der udelukkende fokuserer på sociale forhold eller kun miljøforhold. Definitionerne på investeringstyperne svæver lidt i luften, men analysen tyder på, at dét, der tæller for virksomhederne, er obligationer, der kan bruges i den grønne investeringsbølge, der ventes i de kommende år.
ESG bonds go mainstream
Amongst the many themes turbocharged by the covid catalyst, ESG bond issuance is one of the most prominent. In 2022, ESG bond issuance is set to go mainstream. Investors have taken notice. In fact, the holdings of ESG bond exchange-traded funds have tripled to over $45bn since the covid outbreak. As the chart below shows, that surge of interest follows years of very little growth.
The growth of ESG bonds appears to have breached a tipping point. Not just because investors are keen to hold ESG debt, but also because corporates see that ESG issues now affect their business and investment risk. Indeed, in our recent survey, 19 per cent of corporate debt issuers say that over the last 12 months, environmental factors have impacted their rating. A smaller, but still material proportion, report that social and governance factors have had an impact.
Now that there is a firm nexus between ESG issues and business risk, ESG instruments (primarily bonds) have become a gateway through which corporates begin to address their impact on problems like climate change. Since early last year, over half of corporates have either offered their first ESG instrument or are currently preparing to do so.
Some of the strongest issuance in 2022 will likely be of sustainability-linked bonds. These bonds, which have quickly become very popular, generally offer corporates an interest rate discount if they hit certain ESG targets. From a base of close to zero two years ago, sustainability-linked bonds have comprised up to half the ESG bond issuance in the second half of 2021.
Investors have quickly fallen in love with sustainability-linked bonds. Just over half of investors say these types of bonds are the most promising instrument out of a pool of ESG assets. That is over double the next highest response, which is European green bonds, with 21 per cent.
Driving sustainability-linked bonds is the sudden growth in the number of businesses that publish quantifiable ESG performance targets. Indeed, a third of corporate debt issuers have already started to do so since 2020. A further 21 per cent will begin publishing in the next 12 months and that will leave only 6 per cent without any plans to do so.
Aside from investor demand and published corporate targets that have laid the platform for the growth of sustainability-linked bonds in 2022, corporates have discovered the ‘signalling’ benefits. Just over 60 per cent of companies in our survey said the main benefit of their company’s ESG instrument was that it “enables us to convey our sustainability strategy”. A further 22 per cent say these instruments expand their investor base. Meanwhile, half say there are pricing benefits.
Definitions on how to do ESG investing ‘well’ differ given the breath-taking pace at which it is evolving. Regardless, corporates and investors have now created the market for ESG bonds. With companies starting to publish specific ESG targets, it seems inevitable that in 2022 there will be a surge in issuance from corporates and strong appetite from investors.
