Refinitiv has ranked a number of financial institutions by combining data from group’s products and company results to create the Refinitiv Deals Intelligence Sustainable Finance League Tables.
The group has leveraged its global deal and market volume analysis, covering 3.3 million transactions announced in 225 nations since the 1970s, to determine the firms driving the sustainable economy.
The tables capture sustainability-related deals including green bonds, social bonds and sustainability-linked bonds or loans, as well as issuance in equity markets and M&A deals.
In the first half of 2020, sustainable bond issuance totaled $194.5bn, up 47% from the same period in 2019 and more than double the value recorded in the first half of 2018, according to Refinitiv.
Furthermore, In the second quarter of 2020, $130.9bn of sustainable bonds were issued globally, more than double the value of the previous quarter and creating the highest quarterly total since Refinitiv records began in 2015.
Covid-19 prompted increased capital raisings by sovereigns, multilaterals and banks to aid recovery efforts; £44.8bn of social bonds were recorded globally for the first six months of the year – this is more than double the total raised for the whole of 2019.
Refinitiv also said in total the number of sustainable bonds in existence increased 94% compared to a year ago.
However, looking at equities, capital market issuance for sustainable companies totalled $4bn during the first half, a 21% decline for the same period the previous year and a two-year low, amid the increased volatility due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Refinitiv Deals Intelligence Sustainable Finance League Tables
Refinitiv said in an announcement these tables have been designed to help mainstream sustainability into financial markets by delivering meaningful data, and allows the investment banking community to more easily incorporate ESG factors by tracking and measuring activity in the sustainable finance space.
Leon Saunders Calvert (pictured), head of sustainable finance, Lipper and I&A Insights, Refinitiv, said: “Whilst the market continues to mature in its definitions of sustainable finance products and instruments, and Refinitiv will continue to influence and reflect this evolution in our criteria, with this release we have created a holistic view of new capital being issued to markets, which aggregates sustainable activity across asset classes, regions and industry verticals, and identifies the issuers, underwriters and advisors most heavily contributing to this financing.
“Extensive interaction with market participants and industry bodies informs the criteria we have created and starts to help answer the questions related to how much progress is being made against the capital requirements needed to finance a sustainable future.”
Below is a selection of the tables divided by asset class:
Top Sustainable Bond Issuers
| Issuer | Proceeds ($mil) | Rank | Mkt. Share |
Number of Issues |
| World Bank | 29,398.1 | 1 | 15.1 | 22 |
| France | 11,966.9 | 2 | 6.2 | 4 |
| EIB | 7,078.1 | 3 | 3.6 | 16 |
| Inter-American Development Bk | 6,664.0 | 4 | 3.4 | 4 |
| Societe du Grand Paris | 5,440.6 | 5 | 2.8 | 4 |
| State Power Invest Corp Ltd | 3,947.9 | 6 | 2.0 | 15 |
| NextEra Energy Inc | 3,516.1 | 7 | 1.8 | 3 |
| AIIB | 3,409.6 | 8 | 1.8 | 2 |
| The Netherlands | 3,384.2 | 9 | 1.7 | 4 |
| African Development Bank | 2,995.8 | 10 | 1.5 | 1 |
| Kingdom of Spain | 2,726.6 | 11 | 1.4 | 4 |
| Germany (Federal Republic Of) | 2,630.6 | 12 | 1.4 | 6 |
| E ON SE | 2,456.4 | 13 | 1.3 | 3 |
| China Three Gorges Corp | 2,260.8 | 14 | 1.2 | 7 |
| Province of Wallonie | 2,205.6 | 15 | 1.1 | 1 |
| Chile | 2,174.4 | 16 | 1.1 | 1 |
| Kingdom of Belgium | 2,120.6 | 17 | 1.1 | 2 |
| Japan | 2,088.5 | 18 | 1.1 | 13 |
| East Nippon Expressway Co Ltd | 1,835.9 | 19 | .9 | 5 |
| National Grid PLC | 1,765.1 | 20 | .9 | 3 |
| Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg | 1,746.9 | 21 | .9 | 2 |
| Korea Housing Finance Corp | 1,664.7 | 22 | .9 | 2 |
| Nordic Investment Bank | 1,656.5 | 23 | .9 | 2 |
| EDP Energias de Portugal SA | 1,644.5 | 24 | .9 | 2 |
| Iberdrola SA | 1,638.7 | 25 | .8 | 3 |
| Industry Total | 194,540.8 | – | 100.0 | 381 |
Source: Refinitiv, 1 Jan 2020 to 30 June 2020
Top Sustainable Bonds
| Issue Date |
Issuer | Domicile Nation Name |
Description | Tranche Proceeds ($mil) | Total Proceeds ($mil) | Transaction Type |
| 04/15/20 | World Bank | United States | 0.625% Global Notes due ’25 | 7,969.040 | 7969.04 | STRAIGHT SUSBOND |
| 06/10/20 | UNEDIC | France | 0.250% Gtd Mdm-Trm Nts due ’29 | 4,540.824 | 4540.824 | GTDBONDS SOCBOND STRAIGHT NOTES |
| 05/15/20 | UNEDIC | France | 0.100% Sr Med Term Nts due ’26 | 4,322.626 | 4322.626 | SOCBOND STRAIGHT NOTES |
| 04/17/20 | Inter-American Development Bk | United States | 0.500% Global Bonds due ’23 | 4,248.555 | 4248.555 | SUSBOND STRAIGHT |
| 05/07/20 | World Bank | United States | 0.875% Global Bonds due ’30 | 3,977.120 | 3977.12 | STRAIGHT SUSBOND |
| 03/04/20 | World Bank | United States | 0.750% Senior Notes due ’25 | 3,480.015 | 3480.015 | STRAIGHT SUSBOND |
| 04/16/20 | World Bank | United States | 0.010% Global Notes due ’28 | 3,243.739 | 3243.739 | STRAIGHT NOTES SUSBOND |
| 03/27/20 | African Development Bank | Ivory Coast | 0.750% Senior Notes due ’23 | 2,995.830 | 2995.83 | STRAIGHT SOCBOND |
| 05/20/20 | AIIB | China | 0.500% Global Notes due ’25 | 2,984.940 | 2984.94 | SOCBOND STRAIGHT NOTES |
| 02/13/20 | World Bank | United States | Zero Cpn Zero Cpn Sr Nts due ’30 | 2,737.263 | 2737.263 | ZEROCOUPON SUSBOND |
Source: Refinitiv, 1 Jan 2020 to 30 June 2020
To view the full tables click for Refinitiv’s H1 2020 Sustainable Finance Review.
