Ahren Lester

Malta urged to issue sovereign green bond to 'jumpstart' local market

The Maltese government has been urged by its central bank to issue the first green bond in the country in the hope of "jumpstarting" the local sustainable finance market.

ESG in Fixed Income Americas conference: Highlights

The in-person conference attracted more than 300 delegates and continued to demonstrate the growing momentum for sustainable finance in the region, writes Ahren Lester

SLB market should 'adopt SLL practices'

The sustainability-linked bond (SLB) market should adopt some of the practices common within its loan equivalent, and investors need to ensure poor SLBs are not invested in - even if they like the underlying credit.

Vanguard, Baird have 'long way to go' on ESG, says Morningstar

Morningstar said Vanguard and Baird are among the asset managers that have a "long way to go" with regards to their commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG),...

Climate transition 'bigger risk' for insurers' portfolios than threat from physical risk

Transition rather than physical risks are the largest risks for insurance investment portfolios - and dealing with these requires greater attention from CIOs to providing climate transition projections and targets, according to experts.

Natural capital regulation may heighten credit risk, says Moody's

Growing momentum behind action to preserve nature will likely drive the development of regulatory frameworks that could expose companies and investors to heightened credit and reputational risk...

ESG ratings 'need to focus on impact, not risk'

Amid ongoing criticism of environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings, European credit ratings provider Scope has argued that a "paradigm shift" is needed for the industry to focus on ESG impact rather than risk - especially as they increasingly get used for 'impact' funds.

Loan round-up: Lundbeck, AIPUT, AC Energy, Iren ... and more

Bond round-up: Belgium, IBRD, Anglo American, Knorr-Bremse, CHIMEI ... and more

Nordea: An 'SLL bond' market could emerge 'very quickly'

The Nordic bank believes its ground-breaking 'sustainability-linked loan bond' is poised to kick-start further issuance quickly, Jacob Michaelsen tells Ahren Lester