Fixed Income Stewardship: Why Bondholder Engagement Matters

Fixed income investors have different relationships and points of influence than equity investors, but their role in stewardship is increasingly important. Bondholder influence can arise through capital allocation, refinancing, cost of capital and engagement around new debt issuance.

In this session, StePs and the Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute (AFII) explored how bondholder engagement works in practice, with a particular focus on the primary market and the opportunities that arise before a new bond is issued. The discussion also looked at how investors can engage with banks involved in bond syndication and use research and market data to support their stewardship activities.

AFII shared three practical case studies and introduced its Bondholder Engagement Toolkit, which brings together different approaches to overcoming some of the practical barriers to fixed income engagement.

The session provides an introduction to the topic and sets the stage for the second StePs × AFII session in November, which will take a deeper look at the toolkit and how investors can apply its tools in practice.