ANZ leads world’s first ever Orange Bond
ANZ has led the inaugural US$50mn four-year Women’s Livelihood BondTM 5 for Impact Investment Exchange (“IIX”), the world’s first sustainable debt issued under the Orange Bond Principles which aims to mobilise gender-lens investing under an orange-labelled asset class.
The structure securitizes a portfolio of loans to high-impact enterprises who cannot usually access to international capital markets. The Bond’s proceeds will support ~280,000-300,000 women across Asia and Africa to transition to more sustainable, climate-resilient livelihoods.
ANZ Director, Debt Capital Markets Sarah Ng said: “This was the largest issuance of this series so far despite a tough environment for new issuances, driven by demand from across Asia-Pacific, Europe and the US, supported by a strong, repeat investor base. We expect this significant appetite for impact investing to continue.”
IIX CEO and Founder Professor Durreen Shahnaz said: "The WLB5 makes history as the world's first Orange Bond, blending shades of 'green' and 'orange' while balancing risk, return, and impact through an innovative financial structure. Over 100 bankers, lawyers, government officials, and other ecosystem players came together to build a gender-empowered financial system and transition the gender-lens investment movement from strategy to action," Prof. Shanaz said.
The US$50mn bond comprises of US$45mn senior and US$5mn first-loss subordinated tranche with a 50% credit guarantee on the underlying loan portfolio by United States International Development Finance Corporation and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
The transaction complies with ICMA Sustainability Bond Guidelines, ASEAN Capital Markets Forum’s Social Bond Standards and UN SDG Impact Standards.
IIX is an impact investing pioneer, launching of the US$8.5mn Women’s Livelihood Bond in 2017, the first world’s first gender lens and impact investing listed on a stock exchange.
The Women’s Livelihood Bond Series leverages innovative financial instruments to advance gender equality at scale. ANZ has been involved in all five issuances totaling more than US$120mn.