CONTRIBUTORS
David Zahn, CFA, FRM
Head of European Fixed Income,
Portfolio Manager
United Kingdom
Kasper Hanus, Ph.D
Senior Sustainability Manager,
Franklin Templeton Fixed Income
We are pleased to share our second iteration of the Franklin Templeton Fixed Income (FTFI) Fifteen, a video series designed to cover relevant market topics in approximately 15 minutes. In this segment, join FTFI’s Head of Sustainable Investments, David Zahn, and Senior Sustainability Manager Kasper Hanus as they discuss green, social and even blue bonds, and share their views on biodiversity, the potential challenges facing sustainable finance, FTFI’s issuer engagement and more.
A few of the topics covered include:
- The significance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations has undoubtably risen and will very likely continue to increase over the coming years. David discusses the growing investor interest in—as well as regulatory requirement for—responsible investing, and the potential benefits of green and social bonds over other instruments.
- At FTFI, we believe that protecting biodiversity needs to go hand in hand with fighting climate change, since one cannot happen without the other as we move toward a net zero economy. Kasper describes FTFI’s commitment with certain products to avoid financing to any issuers that have a negative impact on biodiversity sensitive areas.
- Can investors hold compelling investments while still benefiting the environment or social causes? David explains why sustainable bonds performed poorly in 2022 as yields rose, and why he is confident in the asset class going forward.
- Direct engagement with issuers is a key part of FTFI’s sustainability strategy. Kasper talks about the role that FTFI wants to play in the protection of biodiversity; in order to deploy capital most effectively, the investment manager uses its global reach to understand how financing biodiversity will be approached and implemented at the sovereign level, as well as which corporates are cognizant of their potential impact on biodiversity sensitive areas.
To listen to the entire conversation as well as hear a few surprise insights, click the link to watch the next iteration of the FTFI Fifteen.
To learn more about FTFI’s Investment team, click here: FTFI Investment Team
FTFI investment team has certain environmental, sustainability and governance (ESG) goals or capabilities; however, not all strategies are managed to “ESG” oriented objectives.
WHAT ARE THE RISKS?
All investments involve risks, including possible loss of principal. The value of investments can go down as well as up, and investors may not get back the full amount invested. Bond prices generally move in the opposite direction of interest rates. Thus, as prices of bonds in an investment portfolio adjust to a rise in interest rates, the portfolio’s value may decline. Changes in the credit rating of a bond, or in the credit rating or financial strength of a bond’s issuer, insurer or guarantor, may affect the bond’s value.