News Release
30 October 2019

Sustainable investing comes of age in Asia

An increasing number of Asian issuers and investors are starting to widen their horizons
to include the impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in theirconsiderations, a new report from HSBC says.
HSBC’s Sustainable Financing and Investing Report 2019 showed that in Asia 86% ofinvestors and 84% of issuers said ESG factors were ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ important tothem, close behind the global figure of 94% and 93% respectively.
Values are the most important driver for investors and issuers in Asia to care about
environmental and social issues. Fifty-eight per cent of Asian issuers say they carebecause it aligns with their values as an organisation, and 62% of investors because it isright to care about the world and society.
The survey also suggests Asia is ahead in being more attuned to the commercial
benefits of ESG investing and financing. Fifty-eight per cent of Asian investors careabout environmental and social issues because doing so can improve returns or reducerisk, compared to 54% globally. While 47% of issuers say prioritising ESG can improve
returns, more than issuers in any other region surveyed.
Asian investors report fewer obstacles to ESG investing than counterparts in otherregions, although 22% complain of a shortage of ESG investment opportunities, while
18% say there is a lack of ESG disclosure by issuers.
Some 24% of Asian issuers make no ESG disclosures, twice the share of any region,
while under 20% of investors disclose the ESG characteristics of portfolios, against
around 25% globally.
The recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
are an example of a common standard that issuers and investors could align with toimprove ESG disclosure. Only around 40% of issuers who responded to the survey
currently follow the TCFD recommendations.
Jonathan Drew, head of sustainable finance for Asia-Pacific at HSBC, said:“Environmental and social factors are becoming priorities for both issuers and investors
in Asia, and there is increasing recognition that these factors are drivers of yield andvalue.
“This survey shows some really encouraging progress and momentum, but we must not
kid ourselves that the transformation of Asia’s financial markets necessary to meet theclimate challenge is complete.

Principal members of HSBC in Japan are:
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited
HSBC Securities (Japan) Limited
HSBC Global Asset Management (Japan) K.K.

“We must now ramp up efforts in all areas from capturing the hearts and minds byraising awareness and engagement through to the technical disciplines of risk analysis
and disclosure.”
HSBC is the top global underwriter of green bonds in 2019 as of 21 October, according
to Bloomberg data, having supported transactions worth a combined US$8.64 billion.
HSBC has delivered a range of sustainable finance transactions in Asia-Pacific in 2019.
Landmark deals include ICBC’s USD3.15 billion Greater Bay Area green bond, the firstgreen loan compliant with the Green Investment Principles for Belt and Road by ICBC,
Hong Kong’s inaugural sovereign USD1 billion green bond, the first green loan inSingapore for Ho Bee Land, Macquarie University’s first sustainable bond from auniversity, the world’s first green convertible bond from a real estate company, LinkREIT, and the first UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) sukuk for HSBC Amanah
Malaysia.

ends
About the report
The report surveyed 175 issuers and 175 investors across mainland China, Hong Kong SAR,Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, on their changing attitudes to sustainability issues.
Asia is the biggest regional respondent base in the global report that covered 1,000 firms. The fullreport is available at:https://www.gbm.hsbc.com/insights/sustainable-financing/sustainable-financing-and-investingsurvey-2019
HSBC Holdings plc
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London. HSBC
serves customers worldwide from offices in 65 countries and territories in our geographicalregions: Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America, and Middle East and North Africa. With
assets of US$2,728bn at 30 September 2019, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking andfinancial services organisations.