Amundi launches its first Social Bond Strategy

8 December 2020

Amundi, the largest European asset manager, announces the launch of its first Social Bond Strategy. This innovative solution will be among the very few available on the market offering a high allocation to social bonds[1] (minimum 75% of the assets) and a global investment scope.

Social bonds issuances tripled in 2020 compared to the previous year[2]. A large part of the new volumes comes from pandemic-related issuances, with issuers embracing the social bond format as a useful vehicle to meet their financing needs. As a notable example, on October 20th the EU issued €17bn in social bonds to help finance member states’ programmes on employment support in the midst of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Amundi believes this is the beginning of the market’s trajectory, following in the footsteps of the green bond market.

In this context, Amundi is committed to supporting the development of this new segment of sustainable fixed income, after having supported the expansion of green bonds in emerging markets[3] and beyond pure investment grade instruments. Social bonds seek to offer investors a first step in integrating the social pillar of ESG into their investment practices. They are not only an effective mechanism for financing social projects, but we believe that they also provide investors with the best platform to engage with issuers to increase their activities in socially impactful products and services.

This strategy is managed by Amundi’s Alpha Fixed Income team, which benefits from a strong track record in managing Global and Euro Fixed Income strategies, as well as from experience in ESG integration on behalf of the world’s largest investors.

Source: Amundi