Bloomberg Launches U.S. Municipal Bond Impact Index to Track Green, Social, and Sustainability Bonds

Originally posted on bloomberg.com.

December 15, 2021 /3BL Media/ - Bloomberg today announced the launch of the Bloomberg U.S. Municipal Impact Index designed to track the market of municipal bonds categorized as Green, Social, and Sustainability. The index currently tracks over 2,800 securities and is the first such standardized measure of the U.S. municipal tax-exempt investment grade impact bond market.

The index is derived from Bloomberg Index Services Limited’s (BISL) flagship Municipal Index (Bloomberg Ticker: I00730) and utilizes Bloomberg’s data and its municipal data analysts’ research to individually vet and categorize as Green, Social or Sustainability municipal bonds on the Bloomberg Terminal. For inclusion in the index, a bond must either be self-labeled as Green, Social or Sustainability directly from an initial offering, reviewed by independent assurance providers, or use 100% of proceeds for a project in line with the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Principles. Additional sub-indices dedicated to tracking Green, Social, and Sustainability municipal bonds were also launched as part of a suite of Municipal Index Family.

“Investor demand for municipal impact bonds has been growing and its market value has more than doubled in the last three years, but participants have lacked a standard reference point for ESG-adherent securities,” said Nick Gendron, Global Head of Fixed Income Index Product at Bloomberg. “We believe the Bloomberg U.S. Municipal Impact Index will hold broad appeal for both ETF product creation and traditional benchmarking while also providing a useful tool for in-depth research of this growing segment of the municipal bond market.”

Eligible bonds within the index are required to have principal and interest denominated in USD, at least one year until final maturity, and hold an investment grade rating. Only fully tax-exempt issues are included, and rebalancing will occur on a monthly basis. Bloomberg provides a suite of green bond market governance, research, data, and analytics to help users identify green securities and assess alignment to the Green Bond Principles developed by the International Capital Markets Association.

The index was launched on December 13, 2021, with history calculated back to January 1, 2019. Bloomberg clients can access the index using the ticker I36676US Index <GO>.

Bloomberg provides an independent, transparent approach to indexing for customers across the globe. For more information, please visit Bloomberg Indices. To learn more about Bloomberg’s ESG bond data, please visit Bloomberg ESG Data.

About Bloomberg Index Services Limited
Bloomberg’s index team has a proven track record in creating industry-standard and bespoke indices across asset classes, including market-leading fixed income and commodity indices. Bloomberg Index Services Limited (BISL) takes an innovative approach to delivering strategic benchmarks that help market participants address their evolving needs. As an integral part of Bloomberg, BISL has access to an unparalleled breadth of trusted data and reliable technology for calculations, analytics and workflow automation, along with distribution capabilities that can help amplify the visibility of our customers’ products.

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