Sean P Flannery, former CIO, Americas, of State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), has joined the Climate Bonds Advisory Panel.
At SSgA Sean was responsible for over US$2 trillion in global assets under management, across all listed asset classes and in all global geographies. He is now a director IFOK and Meister Consultants.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/24ce91a8-fd97-11e1-8fc3-00144feabdc0.html#axzz26g9VxPAZ
“If you have a choice between two bonds with the same yield, why would you not buy the one that helps to tackle climate change?”
In today's FTFM section.
Nordic Investment Bank this week issued a new 20 year (yes, long dated are selling) SEK 500 million "Environmental Bond", linked to their environmental lending portfolio. It was sold mainly to Scandinavian investors. Lead Managers were SEB (go Christopher Flensborg!) and BoAML. Interest rate 2.75%. For details (including about their ring-fencing) go to http://www.nib.int/capital_markets/environmental_bonds
1. The total size of the global debt securities market: $98.4 trillion
Data compiled by the Bank for International Settlements, http://www.bis.org/statistics/intfinstatsguide.pdf
2. Over two thirds of corporate bonds outstanding are in US dollars
Lots of people have argues that energy efficiency and other "green" improvements should improve the value of a house, at least commensurate with the investment, but survey data on the ground has been hard to come by.
Now a new study, “The Value of Green Labels in the California Housing Market”, shows that a green certified home adds 9% to its appraised sales value in California. Conducted by Nils Kok and Mathew Kahn of the University of California, the study is the first rigorous, large-scale economic analysis of the value of green home labels in California. Halleluijah!
> The Financial Times recently reported that China's economy is slowing, profits are falling and its stock market is drifting down, but its corporate bond market is moving in the exact opposite direction: it is booming. Bond issuance was up about 60 per cent by volume in the first half of 2012, compared to last year. The major reason for this has been regulatory reform, with officials clearing away some of the obstacles that have stood in the way of the development of the bond market. Read more.
> French region Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur has issued a 12 year, AA-rated, €119.5m “socially responsible” bond with 75% of proceeds going to environmental projects (renewable energy, energy efficiency, transport) and 25% to social housing. The bond was significantly over-subscribed. Coupon is 3.6%; joint bookrunners were Crédit Agricole CIB (bravo Tanguy Claquin!) and HSBC France. Insurance companies made up 58% of investors, followed by asset managers at 33%. A third French, almost a third German, and the rest divided between Belgian and Dutch.
Energy efficiency is a key investment area for the shift to a low-carbon economy. A Technical Working Group has been convened to develop eligibility criteria for the certification of energy efficiency related bonds under the Climate Bonds Standard.
The first meeting, via teleconference, was held on 20 July 2012.
This Working Group is focusing on the built environment; a separate Working Group will be convened to look at industrial and manufacturing energy efficiency.
You're invited to join Nick Robins from HSBC and Sean Kidney from the Climate Bonds Initiative present a Webinar about the recent ClimateBonds/HSBC report on "Bonds and Climate Change: State of the Market 2012". The report shows that there are $174 bn of climate-themed bonds outstanding in seven different investments areas.
There are two Webinar time options you can choose from:
1. For EU, Asian & Australian audiences - Wed 11 July, 9.30am Paris / 1.00pm Delhi / 3.30pm Hong Kong / 4.30pm Seoul / 5.30pm Sydney
2. For North American & UK audiences - Thurs 12 July, 8.00am San Francisco / 11.00am New York / 4.00pm London (BST).
Time: 4pm-6pm, Tuesday 3 July 2012Venue: Shearman & Sterling, Broadgate West, 9 Appold Street, London, EC2A 2AP
JUCCCE (Joint US-China Collaboration for Clean Energy) chairperson and co-founder, Peggy Liu, is a renowned expert on China's renewables market. She was a Time Magazine Hero of the Environment in 2008, a WEF Young Global Leader in 2009, and a "top 25 innovative business leaders" of China Business News Weekly 2012.
