Fixed on ESG

Access to medicine is a vital issue at the crossroads of global health issue, corporate responsibility, and ESG investing. Join us as we unpack barriers to equitable access, explore how pharmaceutical companies and ESG-focused investors are addressing these challenges, the emergence of patient reach is as a measure of progress, and how improvements in reporting can align access initiatives with business models to drive both sustainable growth and social impact. Birgit Lundem Jakobsen, ESG Specialist at PGIM, hosts this discussion with Bram Wagner, Investor Engagement Lead for the Access to Medicine Foundation, and Hank Balbirer, CFA, U.S. Investment Grade Senior Credit Research Analyst at PGIM. Recorded on November 5, 2025.

As the International Maritime Organization (IMO) presses to implement their groundbreaking Greenhouse Gas Fuel Intensity Standards across the shipping industry, we examine the scope and likely impacts of these net-zero regulations. Get our take on the credit implications to the industry—including progress on the transition to alternative fuels—as well as considerations for investors in this growing sector. PGIM's Roma Wilkinson, ESG Specialist, hosts this discussion with Sean Goodier, CFA, European Investment Grade Credit Research Analyst. Recorded on September 3, 2025.

EU ESG regulations significantly impact companies operating within the EU, necessitating precise actions and accountability. This episode of Fixed on ESG outlines the key institutions responsible for shaping EU ESG regulations and the various forms these regulations can take, including sustainability frameworks and reporting obligations to investment classifications. We will examine the current trajectory for regulatory changes, including the Omnibus package, against Europe's shifting political and economic contours. PGIM's Birgit Lundem Jakobsen, ESG Specialist, hosts this discussion with Judith Franken, EMEA Government Affairs. Recorded on August 26, 2025.

With climate-related events increasing in frequency and severity, we discuss the role of insurance in mitigating the economic and social risks. With a focus on the property and casualty insurance sector, learn about insurance's economic role, how insurers are adapting their strategies to protect against losses while offering coverage where it is needed, and the importance of risk mitigation efforts by all key players. PGIM's David Klausner, ESG Specialist, hosts this discussion with Pinto Suri, U.S. Investment Grade Credit Research Analyst. Recorded on July 17, 2025.

This episode of Fixed on ESG unravels the perils of fast fashion, the environmental footprint, transparency challenges, and opportunities for innovation. We highlight the role of different stakeholders across the value chain in driving change towards a more sustainable future. Samantha Van Belle, ESG Specialist at PGIM Fixed Income, hosts this discussion with Alice Roche-Naude, Sustainability Strategy Director at Futerra, and Nuvneet Dhillon, CFA, ESG Specialist at PGIM Fixed Income. Recorded on June 12, 2025.

Often excluded from ESG portfolios on ethical grounds, the defence sector is at the forefront due to current geopolitical tensions. In this episode of Fixed on ESG, we consider whether defence companies should be included in ESG investments, the rising strategic importance of defence, investment barriers, and the potential for ESG-conscious investors to reconsider their exclusion policies. PGIM Fixed Income's James Malone, CFA, ESG Specialist, hosts this discussion with Katharine Neiss, PhD, Deputy Head of Global Economics and Chief European Economist. Recorded on May 6, 2025.

Investors are looking to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as one tool to help guide impactful investments. This episode of Fixed on ESG explores the role of the SDGs as a framework for identifying opportunities, SDG-related challenges (e.g. "SDG washing"), the financing gap, methodological issues in assessing contributions, and factors to consider when balancing operational performance with business model alignment. PGIM Fixed Income's Nuvneet Dhillon, CFA, ESG Specialist, hosts this discussion with Armelle de Vienne, Co-Head of ESG Research, and Yacine Rachid, ESG Specialist. Recorded on March 19, 2025.

Securitised credit is emerging as a key driver in financing the green transition, offering investors opportunities to support ESG initiatives without sacrificing return. This episode of Fixed on ESG navigates how securitisation helps fund green assets, the challenges of measuring financed emissions, and the evolving regulatory landscape in the U.S. and Europe. We break down the mechanics of green securitisation and discuss how investors can navigate this space. PGIM Fixed Income's Taylor Chatlos, ESG Specialist, hosts this discussion with David Klausner, ESG Specialist, and Edwin Wilches, CFA, Co-Head of Securitised Products. Recorded on March 12, 2025.

Can green bonds—intended to drive sustainability—complicate emissions reporting? This episode of Fixed on ESG explores the complexities of green bonds and their reported emissions. We examine a proposal by the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) and highlight issues like vanishing emissions, unallocated proceeds, increased reporting demands, and the need for a comprehensive approach to emissions assessment, while considering the broader implications for investors. PGIM Fixed Income's Taylor Chatlos, ESG Specialist hosts this discussion with John Ploeg, CFA, Co-Head of ESG Research. Recorded on January 23, 2025.

With COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan now concluded, the conference ultimately delivered mixed results. In this episode of Fixed on ESG, we analyse the key takeaways from the event, including the geopolitical tensions, financial commitments, and growing Global North-South divide that influenced the outcomes. We also highlight under-the-radar wins, such as methane reduction pledges and the establishment of new carbon market rules, and finally, consider whether COP can continue to drive meaningful change. PGIM Fixed Income's John Ploeg, CFA, Co-Head of ESG Research, hosts this discussion with Nuvneet Dhillon, CFA, ESG Specialist. Recorded on December 17, 2024.

There are many top-down tools that attempt to model climate-related credit risks, but risks relating to the transition towards a low carbon economy often stem from complex regulation and hotly debated policy that are not easily captured in simplistic models. In this episode of Fixed on ESG, we focus on the EU autos sector as a means of exploring how we leverage our bottom-up research approach to analyse climate risks. We discuss the tightening of EU automobile manufacturer emissions targets, limitations of current climate value-at-risk (Climate VaR) models, and the research process we employ to integrate climate transition risks into our credit analysis. PGIM Fixed Income's Alistair Shepheard-Walwyn, CFA, ESG Specialist, hosts this discussion with Chris Roberts, European Investment Grade Credit Research Analyst. Recorded on November 26, 2024.

The past decade's explosive increase in digitalisation is forecast to continue exponentially in the coming years. This expansion of the digital economy is fueling the need for data centres. But data centre growth may see significant challenges given the large amounts of electricity they require. Uncertainty about how quickly their power demand will grow is also creating challenges for utilities that have to plan their generation capacity years in advance. Meanwhile, major tech companies claim to be fueling much of their electricity consumption with low carbon energy. But, the story may not be as simple as they make it appear. This episode of Fixed on ESG provides a comprehensive look at data centres' energy use, the implications of this for utilities, methods of renewable energy procurement, and how companies account for this in their emissions reporting. PGIM Fixed Income's Birgit Lundem Jakobsen, ESG Specialist, hosts this discussion with John Ploeg, CFA, Co-Head of ESG Research, and Patrick Myers, CFA, U.S. Leveraged Finance Credit Research Analyst. Recorded on October 25, 2024.

The rising cost of housing has brought into full view the need for more affordable housing solutions. Fannie Mae's new Mission Index aims to assist the housing market by enhancing transparency and supporting disadvantaged borrowers. This episode of Fixed on ESG explores the Mission Index and Social Bond Framework for single-family RMBS pools, looking at pool composition, prepayment performance, the collaborative effort behind the launch, and more. David Klausner, ESG Specialist at PGIM Fixed Income, hosts this discussion with Nick Sapirie, Vice President of Single-Family Capital Markets at Fannie Mae, and Kaustub Samant, Head of Mortgage Credit Research at PGIM Fixed Income. Recorded on September 5, 2024.

Debt-for-nature swaps have come to the forefront as a unique solution for both environmental conservation and debt alleviation. In this episode of Fixed on ESG, we are joined by The Nature Conservancy, an organization that's aided in structuring several of these types of instruments. Together, we examine their role in alleviating the post-pandemic debt surge in developing economies, the environmental benefits of these instruments, and challenges for investors and measuring effectiveness. Yacine Rachid, ESG Research Analyst at PGIM Fixed Income, hosts this discussion with Slav Gatchev, Sustainable Debt Managing Director at The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and Armelle de Vienne, Co-Head of ESG Research at PGIM Fixed Income.  Recorded on August 1, 2024.

The aviation industry is under the sustainability microscope with recent estimates finding that it contributes to 6% of total global warming. This episode of Fixed on ESG explores the role of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in mitigating aviation's environmental impact, the contrasting policy approaches in the U.S. and EU, and discusses the potential implications of SAF on airline credit profiles and decarbonisation strategies. This episode is hosted by PGIM Fixed Income's Taylor Chatlos, ESG Specialist, and features Jack Fitzsimmons, CFA, U.S. Leveraged Finance Credit Analyst, and Sean Goodier, CFA, European Investment Grade Credit Research Analyst. Recorded on June 18, 2024.

Tackling the intricacies of ESG investing in a warming world is a top challenge for today's investors. In the second half of this two-part series, we explore the practical application of temperature alignment in investment strategies, detail the limitations of third-party ESG data, and introduce PGIM Fixed Income's proprietary Temperature Alignment Tool, which offers a nuanced assessment of a company's climate impact. This episode features PGIM Fixed Income's Ruth Klavert, Client Manager, and James Malone, CFA, ESG Specialist. Recorded on June 3, 2024.

In the face of escalating climate challenges, temperature alignment is taking center stage and helping to reshape climate-conscious investment strategies. In the first of a two-part series, we delve deeper into this innovative tool and its role in the low carbon transition, understanding the shift from excluding to backing certain issuers critical to the low carbon transition, the reason for sector-specific decarbonization rates, and more. This episode features PGIM Fixed Income's Ruth Klavert, Client Manager, and James Malone, CFA, ESG Specialist. Recorded on April 26, 2024.

The vital role of biodiversity across social and economic dependencies has captured the attention of ESG investors. With biodiversity in focus and a surge of new datasets to inform investment considerations, we explore how biodiversity is measured, approaches to investing in nature, how we tackled some of the complexities in biodiversity data when redesigning PGIM Fixed Income's Sovereign ESG Impact Rating framework, and aspirations for the future of biodiversity investing. This episode features Filippo Grassi, Data Analyst for Planet Tracker, and host, Alistair Shepheard-Walwyn, ESG Specialist for PGIM Fixed Income. Recorded on March 8, 2024. The views of any of our guests on this podcast do not necessarily reflect the views of PGIM Fixed Income.

For fixed income ESG investors, gaining a deeper understanding of emerging markets is crucial as standard ESG assessments may neglect the complex economic and social dynamics that influence positive ESG impact as well as investment risks and opportunities in these regions. In this episode of Fixed on ESG, Nuvneet Dhillon, CFA, ESG Specialist, highlights our enhanced Sovereign ESG Impact Rating framework, and hosts Cathy Hepworth, CFA, Head of Emerging Markets Debt, and Magdalena Polan, Head of Emerging Market Macroeconomic Research, to discuss ESG for emerging market sovereigns and the challenges of assessing these credits. Recorded on February 21, 2024.

Several major reports were released just ahead of this year's COP28 in the UAE on the state of climate action, the widening gap between actual progress and policies on decarbonization, and what would be needed to limit warming to well below 2°C. In this second of a two-part instalment of PGIM Fixed Income's Fixed on ESG, James Malone, CFA, ESG Research Specialist, and John Ploeg, CFA, Co-Head of ESG Research, examine the latest developments in global climate action. They provide an in-depth analysis of the UN's Emissions Gap Report along with other key reports, exploring the potential outcomes under existing climate policies, the impact of fully meeting Paris Agreement pledges, and how these scenarios measure up against what is necessary to limit warming to 1.5°C. Recorded on December 15, 2023.