[그린본드 열풍]The problem is the rate of return… Should be’invest carrots’

[이데일리 김재은 기자] “As a global trend, green bonds are all good, so the demand for issuance is overflowing. The problem is the return on investment.”

After the Corona 19 pandemic, green bond issuance is rapidly increasing as interest in the environment and sustainability has increased. From the standpoint of the issuer, not only financing, but also improving the image of thinking about the environment can be brought together. However, from the standpoint of creditors investing in Green Bond, unlike stocks, it is difficult to expect a separate capital gain (capital gain), so coupons (interest rates) are all of the rate of return.

An official from a large manager said, “The National Pension Plan will give additional points to managers equipped with the ESG evaluation model and process, but there is no carrot (incentive).” .

In the case of ESG stocks, even if the dividend yield is somewhat low, capital gains (capital gains) can compensate for this, but bonds have no way to pursue profits other than coupon rates. The main reason for foreigners to avoid investing in corporate bonds of domestic companies is the inability to secure enough spreads (additional interest rates) against risk.

The manager’s credit manager said, “As the green bond and ESG issues expand through the government-led top-down method, it is highly likely to continue for a considerable period of time.”

Experts point out that ESG bond investors must be given some incentives to ensure investment sustainability and scalability.

Kim Min-jeong, a researcher at Hanwha Investment & Securities Credit, said, “The average ESG is 5-10bp (1bp=0.01% point) lower than general bonds issued by the same company. “It’s not good enough.”

Hwang Se-woon, a research fellow at the Capital Markets Research Institute, said, “In addition to some public interest investors who emphasize social responsibility while strengthening the ESG, most investors regard the rate of return as important.” As this is one of the biggest hurdles in expanding ESG, it is necessary to provide some incentives related to ESG investment at the government level.”

Green washing is also a problem. Green washing is not actually eco-friendly, but it is a false or exaggerated publicity of eco-friendly characteristics. Recently, the issuance of bonds that can be flexibly used after financing without a purpose, such as transition bonds and sustainable bonds, is increasing. This is also a factor that increases the issuance of ESG bonds, but the greenwashing problem could also be expanded.

Research Fellow Hwang Se-Woon said, “There will be additional greenwashing cases without a clear criterion for how far we will look green.” Said. In this regard, the financial authorities created a task force (TF) to consider how to take penalties and to protect creditors and follow-up inspections such as the loss of time-limited profits.

An official from the Financial Services Commission said, “We have a lot of heavy-duty industries, so there should be a lot of discussion in the future.”

However, the official said, “If there are policy finance and private funds, among those classified as green, we will invest and lend mainly to policy finance.” said.