Social bonds entering Investment realm

With companies realising and acting on their ESG related responsibilities, it’s no surprise that banks are on the same wavelength. Upon asking their institutional investors how they wanted their money invested, Truist Financial understood that the general theme was to stick to corporate social responsibility.

The entirety of 2020 has created a sense of urgency, clearly reflected in the wants of investors — a recurring trend as seen here. Following ESG guidelines are a good way to aim for sustainable growth. Investors are also pleased that their capital goes to furthering initiatives and programs that will alleviate problems plaguing social and environmental domains.

Benevolent bonds have been issues by banks like Citigroup, Truist and JP Morgan from mid-2020, with purposes ranging from affordable housing to healthcare services. An example is Truist’s first social bond, an offering that raised $1.25 billion for investments in new and existing programs such as the financing of affordable housing and essential nonprofit services for communities in need. They’re the first regional bank in U.S. to do so.

The hope is that social, benevolent bonds become the norm from now on.

Read more at: https://www.americanbanker.com/news/truist-is-first-regional-bank-to-issue-a-social-bond-it-wont-be-the-last