APG has published a guidance document that outlines its expectations about Covid 19-related expenses by companies and their potential eligibility in social or sustainable bonds.
An increasing number of banks, companies and government-related agencies have recently issued so-called Covid-19 response bonds. The proceeds of these are used, among other things, to fund emergency health measures and support packages for small and medium-sized enterprises. APG, on behalf of its pension fund clients, has since late March invested over €350 million in Covid-19 response bonds.
“For corporate issuers it is not always clear which Covid 19-related activities should qualify for labeled bond issuance”, says Joshua Linder, credit analyst Fixed Income at APG Asset Management. “To remove some of the uncertainty, we have devloped a guidance document that outlines how we think about measures in the context of social and sustainable bond issuance. We think it is helpful to identify examples of activities across sectors that could potentially qualify.”
APG’s goal is to share the guidelines with its counterparts to encourage greater issuance while upholding the integrity of the market. As a leading long-term responsible investor, APG actively contributes to initiatives aimed at expanding the size and scope of the green bond market. At the same time, we continue to emphasize high-quality standards and transparency in support of responsible, sustainable growth.