Six asset owners have invested in a 20-year 3 billion Danish kroner ($1.9 billion) green bond issued by the World Bank.

The 933 billion Danish kroner ATP, Hilleroed, Denmark; the 500 billion Danish kroner Danica Pension, Copenhagen; the 576 billion Danish kroner PFA Pension, Copenhagen; the 114 billion Danish kroner MP Pension, Gentofte, Denmark; the 140 billion Danish kroner PenSam, Farum, Denmark; and the 367.4 billion Swedish kroner ($38 billion) AP2, Gothenburg, Sweden, were among investors of the first green bond issued by the World Bank in Danish kroner since 1997.

“Investing in green bonds from the World Bank is a fine way to support the green transition, and at the same time it gives a good risk-adjusted return,” a PenSam spokesman said in an emailed comment. “Our investment in the World Bank green bond is 400 million kroner, and it is our first large investment in green bonds,” he added.

Separately, Lars Dreier Kristensen, senior portfolio manager in ATP, said in an email: “This is a fine case of long-term and sustainable investments making it possible to combine a good risk-adjusted return with strong support for the green transition.”

ATP’s total AUM in green bonds is close to 20 billion Danish kroner. A spokesman declined to provide the size of its allocation to the World Bank bond.
Anders Schelde, chief of investments at MP Pension, said in an email: “We found it both fundamentally very sound in terms of risk-adjusted return as well as very attractive as a strong link to our green agenda. It, therefore, fits very well into our overall portfolio.”

MP Pension has an allocation of 5 billion Danish kroner to climate-related investments and it invested 400 million Danish kroner in the World Bank’s new issuance, he said.

Andreas Stang, head of ESG at PFA said in an email that the fund “invested in the bond because it was a good fit for our portfolio with both the right size and price.”

The World Bank has issued $13.7 billion equivalent in 160 green bonds in 22 currencies since 2008.

Spokesmen for the other investors were not immediately available.

Source: Pensions&Investments

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