US$27.7m Women's Livelihood Bond 3 to list on SGX

SINGAPORE-BASED capital firm Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) has priced its US$27.7 million, four-year Women's Livelihood Bond 3 (WLB3) at 3.95 per cent, a company spokesperson told The Business Times (BT) on Tuesday.

The WLB3 is the third tranche under the US$150 million WLB Series, a series of debt securities meant to create sustainable livelihoods for over three million women across developing countries, IIX said.

The latest issuance, which will be listed on the Singapore Exchange, is expected to close around Dec 10, the spokesperson said. The unsubordinated, secured bonds will be issued at par and are expected to mature on Dec 10, 2024.

Investors include US institutional investor Nuveen, Pathfinder NZ, Blue Orchard and Grace Harmony. IIX's Women's Catalyst Fund, a gender lens vehicle designed to "accelerate innovative financial instruments for women" also made its maiden investment, the company said.

According to IIX, WLB3 will support some 180,000 underserved women and women entrepreneurs in the Asia-Pacific region amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Proceeds will be used to extend loans to borrowers, all of which are women-focused enterprises or microfinance institutions benefiting women in Cambodia, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, as well as to make payments due to hedging counterparties, among other things.

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Australia and New Zealand Banking Group is the lead placement agent for the offering, while others include Standard Chartered and DBS.

In January this year, IIX announced the second issuance under the WLB series which comprised US$12 million of four-year bonds, carrying a coupon of 4 per cent per annum.

The company launched its maiden four-year US$8.5 million WLB bond in 2017, with a coupon rate of 5.65 per cent per annum.

Last month, BT reported that as sustainability-centred priorities grow in prominence on regulators' and investors' agendas, women, too, are increasingly muscling into the traditionally male-dominated fields like finance and real estate.

While there is little hard data on the matter, women have been headlining initiatives focusing on environmental, social and governance standards globally, and here in Asia.

Additionally, some like Durreen Shahnaz, founder and chief executive officer of IIX, still feel that more can be done to give underserved women a voice in the market.