“It’s pretty clear that over the last couple of years, if you compare a green bond portfolio to a traditional, fixed income portfolio, the green bonds have been doing better, not worse.”
— Bram Bos
Bram Bos is Lead Portfolio Manager of Green, Social and Impact Bonds at NN Investment Partners. He has over 20 years of portfolio management experience, including previous roles at Unilever, APG Asset Management, Nomura, and Fullerton Fund Management.
Bram’s early career began in his native Holland, took him to Singapore for several years and then back to the Netherlands, where he went on to build the green bond franchise at NNIP following its inception in 2015 just before interest in green bonds really exploded. The flagship NN (L) Green Bond Fund focuses exclusively on green bonds and combines a clear green profile with an above market performance since its inception. The fund is currently the world’s largest open-ended green bond fund in the market, with over €3.8 billion total assets under management.
Bram was awarded a Masters of Science and Financial Economics at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, and previously sat on the Fixed Income Advisory Committee for the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment.
In this episode, we discuss what makes a green bond “green”, the criteria he uses at NNIP to ensure green bonds meet international standards, what makes green bonds attractive to investors and of course, the concept of ‘greenwashing’.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
SELECTED LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE:
- Connect with Bram Bos: LinkedIN
- NN Investment Partners
- APG Asset Management
- Fullerton Fund Management
- Temasek Holdings
- Unilever Sustainable Living Plan
- Principles for Responsible Investment
- ABN AMRO
- Climate Bonds Initiative Taxonomy
- European Green Bond Standard
- Sustainalytics
- ISS
- MSCI
SHOW NOTES:
[03:07] The exponential growth of sustainable finance in recent years and the journey behind the ideation and implementation of green bonds.
[11:18] An overview of NNIP’s green bond funds.
[15:40] What makes a green bond ‘green’ and how it differentiates from other types of bonds.
[23:33] Why investors choose to invest in green bonds over regular bonds.
[28:47] Other types of bonds within the sustainable finance space beyond green bonds, including social bonds and sustainability bonds.
[30:49] The risks and the potential downside to investing in green bonds
[34:36] How social or environmental impact is evaluated over a green bond’s holding period.
[39:27] The concept of greenwashing and how to avoid it.
[45:12] Bram’s outlook on what the fixed income investment community will achieve by 2030.
MORE BRAM BOS QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW:
“In our green bond strategy, we try to avoid greenwashing. So, we make sure that, whenever a green bond is being issued, there is alignment between the project that they are financing and the broader strategy of the company. ”
— Bram Bos
“Green bonds are the ultimate proof of what a company is doing—it displays the transparency of their product. That is the main function of the green bond market: proving what companies are really doing and saying.”
— Bram Bos
“We don’t look only at the green projects being financed, but also take into consideration the broader strategy and direction of the company. That’s really crucial to avoid greenwashing.”
— Bram Bos
“It’s important to understand that a green bond, in terms of liquidity, legal status, credit rating, and the way it trades is exactly the same as a normal bond. ”
— Bram Bos
