Berlin Hyp funding and investor relations head Bodo Winkler-Viti has secured the 'Personality of the year' award at the Environmental Finance Sustainable Debt Awards 2025 for his role as a "true pioneer" in sustainable debt markets for a decade.

The win arrives exactly 10 years after Berlin Hyp broke into the market with its ground-breaking green pfandbrief in April 2015.

"When you think of a pioneer – Bodo Winkler-Viti is what you think of," an Environmental Finance Sustainable Debt Awards judge said. "While we only see the outcomes and success he has accomplished, his efforts back in 2015 should not be taken for granted. Change is always an uphill battle. But, when people like Bodo take the first step, they pave the way for the rest of the industry."

The prolific sustainable bond issuer has now raised more than $15 billion from sustainable bonds to date, according to Environmental Finance Data. On the way, it also became the first European financial institution to issue all three dedicated sustainable bond labels – including use-of-proceeds green and social bonds, and the performance-based SLB.

Winkler-Viti tells Environmental Finance that the "most special" moment remains his first ever sustainable transaction: a €500 million green pfandbrief, which is a predominantly German type of covered bond.

He says it is a "really good product," but was particularly proud that Berlin Hyp was able to transfer the 'green pfandbrief' brand to the Verband deutscher Pfandbriefbanken (VDP) association. With Berlin Hyp and other members, the VDP developed 'minimum standards' for green and social pfandbrief which are used by 16 different German and Austrian banks.

"There are now so many varied issuers who are doing [sustainable pfandbrief] and applying these minimum standards," he says. "There are specialised mortgage banks, like ourselves. There are big universal banks. There are quite small savings banks who do sub-benchmark transactions. It is amazing to see – and it is growing year by year.

"Winkler-Viti says the VDP 'minimum standards' are "very investor friendly" due to their alignment with the Green Bond Principles and the EU Taxonomy's substantial contribution criteria, but also due to their requirement of annual external review.

"So, investors know that – during the lifetime of this type of bond – issuers have to show again and again what green or social assets they generate," he says. "And they have to get a new [third-party] stamp on it. And I think this is very investor friendly."

Coming to market with a 'first' is very challenging, however, as you have to ensure you get things off to the "right start".

"That was true for the first green pfandbrief," he says. "And it was even more true for our first SLB."

Berlin Hyp raised €500 million from its debut SLB. At the time, Winkler-Viti described SLBs as perhaps an "even more valuable product" than green bonds but the structure has remained uncommon among banks – in part due to regulatory challenges.

Other innovations that the judges praised included Berlin Hyp becoming the first bank to fully integrate EU Taxonomy criteria into its green bond framework, including the challenging 'do no significant harm' (DNSH) requirements. Berlin Hyp was also the first commercial bank in Germany to set a quantitative sustainability target in its corporate strategy in 2017.

Winkler-Viti emphasises that the ground-breaking role that Berlin Hyp has taken in sustainable bond markets and sustainable finance more widely has been driven by a company-wide effort.

"For the first bond, it was very much driven by the treasury," he explains. "But building up the franchise at Berlin Hyp, that was a decision of the board and it needed the support of the whole bank to do that. And nowadays – when you look at Berlin Hyp – ESG is incorporated into everything we do. And that is amazing."

One of the leading commercial banks which nominated Winkler-Viti described him as a "true pioneer" who has had a "groundbreaking, transformative and visionary" influence on the sustainable finance market. In the process, they said, he helped to make Berlin Hyp the "gold standard" sustainable bond issuer among financials.

But there is still much to do, and Winkler-Viti says his "biggest wish" is that issuers – and especially banks – do not forget their importance in contributing to building a sustainable future.

"There are many other topics at the moment, but our environment and social equality are so core and urgent," he says. "And we should not forget about this. [We should] continue to finance good things that help, and there are plenty of opportunities. Banks sit at the crucial point – because they decide, in the end, how to allocate liquidity."