ImpactAlpha, December 13 – Since launching the bond series in 2017, the Singapore-based impact investment firm has raised nearly $230 million to support women’s economic empowerment in Asia. With ever-larger issuances, IIX has evolved its investment thesis, focusing on the intersection of gender and climate issues. Women’s Livelihood Bond 6 is the second in the series to be issued under the Orange Bond framework, which IIX helped develop for social bonds supporting gender equity (“orange” is used for Sustainable Development Goal No. 5).
Investors are putting up $100 million in the largest bond so far in the series. Dutch pension fund APG and Nuveen are among WLB6’s backers.
Proceeds are expected to support livelihood improvement and resilience for nearly 900,000 women and girls in India, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kenya and Vietnam.
The bond is backed by a partial guarantee from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency as well as a $12 million first-loss tranche from the US International Development Finance Corp. Combined they protect senior investors for at least $20 million in losses.
Each bond in the series has used similar de-risking mechanisms for investors.
