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CONTRIBUTORS

David Zahn, CFA, FRM

Head of European Fixed Income,
Portfolio Manager
United Kingdom

Kasper Hanus, Ph.D

Senior Sustainability Manager,
Franklin Templeton Fixed Income

We are pleased to share our second iteration of the Franklin Templeton Fixed Income (FTFI) Fifteen, a video series designed to cover relevant market topics in approximately 15 minutes. In this segment, join FTFI’s Head of Sustainable Investments, David Zahn, and Senior Sustainability Manager Kasper Hanus as they discuss green, social and even blue bonds, and share their views on biodiversity, the potential challenges facing sustainable finance, FTFI’s issuer engagement and more.

A few of the topics covered include:

  1. The significance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations has undoubtably risen and will very likely continue to increase over the coming years. David discusses the growing investor interest in—as well as regulatory requirement for—responsible investing, and the potential benefits of green and social bonds over other instruments.
  2. At FTFI, we believe that protecting biodiversity needs to go hand in hand with fighting climate change, since one cannot happen without the other as we move toward a net zero economy. Kasper describes FTFI’s commitment with certain products to avoid financing to any issuers that have a negative impact on biodiversity sensitive areas.
  3. Can investors hold compelling investments while still benefiting the environment or social causes? David explains why sustainable bonds performed poorly in 2022 as yields rose, and why he is confident in the asset class going forward.
  4. Direct engagement with issuers is a key part of FTFI’s sustainability strategy. Kasper talks about the role that FTFI wants to play in the protection of biodiversity; in order to deploy capital most effectively, the investment manager uses its global reach to understand how financing biodiversity will be approached and implemented at the sovereign level, as well as which corporates are cognizant of their potential impact on biodiversity sensitive areas.

To listen to the entire conversation as well as hear a few surprise insights, click the link to watch the next iteration of the FTFI Fifteen.

To learn more about FTFI’s Investment team, click here: FTFI Investment Team

FTFI investment team has certain environmental, sustainability and governance (ESG) goals or capabilities; however, not all strategies are managed to “ESG” oriented objectives.

WHAT ARE THE RISKS?

All investments involve risks, including possible loss of principal. The value of investments can go down as well as up, and investors may not get back the full amount invested. Bond prices generally move in the opposite direction of interest rates. Thus, as prices of bonds in an investment portfolio adjust to a rise in interest rates, the portfolio’s value may decline. Changes in the credit rating of a bond, or in the credit rating or financial strength of a bond’s issuer, insurer or guarantor, may affect the bond’s value.

Important Legal Information

This document is for information only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation and was prepared without regard to the specific objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular person who may receive it. This document may not be reproduced, distributed or published without prior written permission from Franklin Templeton.

Any research and analysis contained in this document has been procured by Franklin Templeton for its own purposes and may be acted upon in that connection and, as such, is provided to you incidentally. Although information has been obtained from sources that Franklin Templeton believes to be reliable, no guarantee can be given as to its accuracy and such information may be incomplete or condensed and may be subject to change at any time without notice. Any views expressed are the views of the fund manager as of the date of this document and do not constitute investment advice. The underlying assumptions and these views are subject to change based on market and other conditions and may differ from other portfolio managers or of the firm as a whole. 

There is no assurance that any prediction, projection or forecast on the economy, stock market, bond market or the economic trends of the markets will be realized. Franklin Templeton accepts no liability whatsoever for any direct or indirect consequential loss arising from the use of any information, opinion or estimate herein.

The value of investments and the income from them can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount that you invested. Past performance is not necessarily indicative nor a guarantee of future performance.

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