Fixed income

Opportunities to finance positive social and environmental outcomes

The transition to a more sustainable economy is creating opportunities for investors to finance positive social and environmental outcomes through bond investments.

The Impax Core Plus Bond strategy seeks out these opportunities, including securities that support affordable housing, community development, development finance, education, environment and energy projects, gender equality, sustainable infrastructure and sustainable products and services. We believe that quantifying the positive environmental and social impact of the portfolio demonstrates the importance of bond issuance as a source of capital driving sustainable development.

We have calculated the same environmental metrics as in our listed equity portfolios (GHG emissions avoided, renewable energy generated, water provided, saved, or treated, and materials recovered, or waste treated).

Additionally, we have calculated two social impact metrics for the portfolio: (1) the number of educational and graduate loans financed and (2) the number of affordable housing units financed by the strategy.

Social issues

Affordable housing: Impax invests in mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both of
which were created by Congress to provide liquidity, stability, and affordability to the US housing market.

Education: Impax invests in education mainly through asset-backed securities, like those issued by the Social Finance (SoFi) Professional Loan Programme.

Impact value chain

Social sustainability challenges:

Affordable housing

Increased access to housing
loans or dedicated affordable housing projects
Housing lending
Affordable housing units financed

Education

Increased access to education
loans or education infrastructure, including K–12 and higher
education facilities
Education lending
Student loans financed