Citi APAC raises record $25b in sustainable funds for clients in H1 2021

Amongst the transactions is Alibaba Group’s $5b four-part offering in February.

Citi APAC has set a record for sustainable financing in the first half of 2021, logging a 400% increase versus the same period in 2020.

In a press release, the bank shared that it has raised over $25b from January-June 2021 for its APAC clients in order to support their sustainable financing leads.

Chief amongst these transactions is Alibaba Group’s $5b four-part offering in February, which included a 20-year sustainability tranche—the company’s debut sustainable capital markets transaction.

From the hardware sector, SK hynix issued a $2.5b bond in January with a 10-year green tranche.

Citi also led a $3b sukuk for the Republic of Indonesia in June, which included a 30-year green tranche—the longest-ever green offering in the Islamic bond format.

“We view sustainable financing both as a mandate and as an opportunity to partner with our clients across geographies—to help them decarbonize their operations and achieve their enterprise sustainability goals,” said Peter Babej, Citi APAC CEO.

Issuers in many cases can now raise cheaper financing via the issuance of green bonds, Citi noted.

The growth in sustainable financing is also thanks to a notable increase in demand. A decade ago, the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing market was led by niche investors with assets under management not exceeding $5b according to market estimates. Ten years later, ESG investing is mainstream—moving from niche to necessary—supporting the ascent of global ESG assets under management to between $30-45t currently, the bank said.