Swesif’s project “Sustainable Interest & Credit Management” was concluded with a webinar for Swesif members.
The project has shown a lot of differences in sustainability analysis between fixed income and equity management and points to the fact that the work put on sustainability analysis in fixed income and credit management will increase in the future.
Lingyi Lu, Swesif board member and one of the project leaders highlights a strength that bondholders have in their sustainability dialogue with companies; “When bonds mature and issuers are forced to refinance, it creates recurring opportunities for dialogue between investors and the issuer. By using these recurring opportunities for dialogue, we as investors can help drive positive sustainability development.”
At the webinar, Swesif members were able to learn about the conclusions drawn by the project leaders and hear experts in the field discuss them. Key conclusions were:
- The majority of respondents have specific sustainability objectives in credit and fixed income management.
- Most common are targets for share in sustainable bonds.
- Obstacles repeatedly described are lack of data and standardisation of data but also of the right kind of data in e.g. the climate area.
- Reliability and timing are problems, as is the backward-looking nature of data from external providers. Sustainability analyses of government bonds and bonds are perceived as lacking.
Speakers
Ulf Erlandsson, Executive Chair, Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute – The role of fixed income markets in sustainable transition
Lingyi Lu, Board Member Swesif – Swesif’s Sustainable Interest Rate and Credit Management project
Panel
Fredrik von Platen, Member of the Board Swesif
Karin Göransson, Handelsbanken Fonder
Ulrika Lindén, Swedbank Robur
Moderator
Lingyi Lu, Member of the Board Swesif
