The current Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) outbreak will likely trigger payouts for $132.5 million in pandemic catastrophe bonds sponsored by the World Bank Group’s (WBG) Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF). This funding will be channelled to eligible countries to mitigate the impact of the outbreak and might validate the need for market-based mechanisms to deal with pandemics.

Demand from investors for this type of securities is explained by their attractive risk/return ratio. Indeed, even if yields depend on the issuing bank and the origin of the country, in general this yield offered is higher than that of government bonds issued for the same maturity in the same country.

As part of World Water Week, which took place from 26 to 31 August 2018 in Stockholm, Sweden, the World Bank announced the launch of a series of bond issuances to raise awareness on water for the world of finance.

The approach initiated by Ossiam’s research and management team intends to obtain an optimized portfolio that includes a selection of stocks where volatility is among the lowest in the investment universe