Sustainability and the Sovereign Bond Market

A sound economy will be managed with attention to the social and environmental impacts of development, and sustainability assessments consider this. Do sovereign credit ratings and bond instruments consider this too? This text examines the possibility of national-level sustainability assessments providing an advantage in investment in government bonds. In the study contained in this book, a range of sustainability assessments were used to direct the construction of sovereign bond portfolios, with the performance of these portfolios tracked against a global benchmark index. Whilst the performance of any investment is determined by a wide range of factors, the results of this study indicated that some advantage could be found in using national-level sustainability indicators as an additional investment tool.

Autorentext

Michael Hardiman has worked in banking and funds management, and in environmental finance in both Australia and the US. He has a Bachelor of Science degree with first-class Honours, and a Master of Science degree. He also has a Graduate Diploma in Environmental Studies and is a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.