Ecuadorean cooperative sells world's first performance-linked, female-focused bond

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🗞️ Driving the news: The world's inaugural "diversity and inclusion" bond, valued at $20 million with a four-year term, has been sold by Jardín Azuayo, an Ecuadorian savings and credit cooperative
• The unique aspect of this bond is its borrowing cost, which correlates with the amount loaned to businesses owned or managed by women from various backgrounds

🔭 The context: The bond forms part of a growing trend in global debt meant to serve specific societal benefits
• In this instance, the bond's unique structure focuses on benefiting women, with a particular focus on women migrants and indigenous women

🌎 Why does it matter for the planet: This innovative bond represents a stride towards fostering financial diversity and inclusivity, with a particular emphasis on increasing loans to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in Ecuador managed by women
• Acting as a "catalyst" for similar female-centric bonds, it aims to promote gender parity in the financial sector

⏭️ What's next: If the bond's targets are met, IDB Invest, the private lending arm of the Inter-American development Bank that helped structure the bond and bought up half of it, will grant Jardín Azuayo a monetary bonus and additional advisory services

💬 One quote: "It is important because it strengthens the founding objective of the Cooperative, which is to improve the living conditions of a society" (Juan Carlos Urgilés, general manager of Jardín Azuayo )

📈 One stat: Credit rating agencies estimate that between $900 billion and $1 trillion worth of "thematic" bonds will be sold this year, with around 30% issued in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to IDB Invest estimates

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