SYZ renews exclusive sustainable investment initiative in partnership with the World Bank

Monday, 09/10/2018

The Advisory service of Banque SYZ capitalises on last year’s success by launching a new equity-linked bond issued by the World Bank (IBRD), linked to a basket of developed market stocks that meet SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) criteria.

September 10, 2018

Last year, SYZ was the first private bank in Switzerland to offer this type of investment to private clients. Considering the great interest gathered among investors, SYZ has decided to renew its partnership with the World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD, Aaa/AAA) on a new equity-linked bond offering. Banque SYZ is the sole distributor of the note, a bond in Switzerland that directly connects private investors to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Returns are linked to the performance of companies advancing the global development priorities set out in the goals, such as tackling climate change, ending poverty, advancing gender equality, improving health and building sustainable infrastructure.

While ESG (Environment Social Governance) focused solutions are available, the partnership with the World Bank goes beyond these solutions by focusing on the SDGs, which are endorsed by the United Nations and will govern the UN’s global strategy until 2030. In addition, all investments will be used to finance World Bank development projects.

Led by Carole Millet and Manuel Terreault of Banque SYZ’s Advisory Team, the project respond to private investors’ aspirations, who are attracted by the combination of a performance-oriented goal and the humanistic spirit of the initiative. This project highlights the willingness of SYZ to adopt a sustainable-investment approach, driven by its capacity to offer innovative products to its clients in line with its entrepreneurial spirit.

“The economic impact of climate change is massive: it affects direct assets, damages future returns and endangers fragile economies. If the awareness to shift to low-carbon emissions is widely accepted, we need to address solutions that protect our investors’ capital and take advantage of both existing and new opportunities,” says Eric Syz, CEO of SYZ Group.

“Therefore, we are very proud to partner again with the World Bank through their investment solution supporting the Sustainable Development Goals. Innovation is one of our core values and as a responsible investor we are pleased to contribute to new solutions creating performance through investments that incorporate environmental, social and governance considerations”.

Quoting World Bank Vice President and Treasurer, Arunma Oteh, “Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals requires a fundamental shift in development finance – the active participation of private investors is key to this change. Thanks to our deepening partnership with Banque SYZ and BNP Paribas who arranged the bond, Swiss private investors will have a new opportunity to participate in a product that demonstrates the powerful role of capital markets in connecting savings with development priorities.”

The World Bank will use the proceeds to support the financing of projects that advance its goals of eliminating extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity, and that are aligned with the SDGs. The return on investment of the bond is directly linked to the stock performance of companies included in the Solactive Sustainable Development Goals World MV Index. The index includes 30 companies that, based on methodology developed by Vigeo Eiris’ Equitics, dedicate at least one fifth of their activities to sustainable products, or are recognised leaders in their industries on socially and environmentally sustainable issues. Solactive applies volatility and diversification filters to reach the final index composition. Vigeo Eiris is a global provider of environmental, social and governance research to investors and public and private companies.