ANZ Leads World’s First Ever Orange Bond to Support Women in Asia and Africa

ANZ has led the inaugural US$50 million four-year Women’s Livelihood BondTM 5 for Impact Investment Exchange (“IIX”), the world’s first sustainable debt issued under the Orange Bond Principles which aims to mobilise gender-lens investing under an orange-labelled asset class.

The structure securitises a portfolio of loans to high-impact enterprises who cannot usually access to international capital markets. The Bond’s proceeds will support ~280,000-300,000 women across Asia and Africa to transition to more sustainable, climate-resilient livelihoods.

ANZ Director Debt Capital Markets Sarah Ng said: “This was the largest issuance of this series so far despite a tough environment for new issuances, driven by demand from across Asia-Pacific, Europe and the US, supported by a strong, repeat investor base. We expect this significant appetite for impact investing to continue.”

IIX is an impact investing pioneer, launching the US$8.5 million Women’s Livelihood Bond in 2017, the first world’s first gender lens and impact investing listed on a stock exchange.

The Women’s Livelihood Bond Series leverages innovative financial instruments to advance gender equality at scale. ANZ has been involved in all five issuances totaling more than US$120 million.

IIX CEO and Founder Professor Durreen Shahnaz said: "The WLB5 makes history as the world's first Orange Bond, blending shades of 'green' and 'orange' while balancing risk, return, and impact through an innovative financial structure. Over 100 bankers, lawyers, government officials, and other ecosystem players came together to build a gender-empowered financial system and transition the gender-lens investment movement from strategy to action.”

The US$50 million bond comprises of US$45 million senior and US$5 million first-loss subordinated tranche with a 50% credit guarantee on the underlying loan portfolio by United States International Development Finance Corporation and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

The transaction complies with ICMA Sustainability Bond Guidelines, ASEAN Capital Markets Forum’s Social Bond Standards and UN SDG Impact Standards.

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