Market Update
Welcome to Conyers’ 2021 Norway Practice Bulletin. Our annual publication underscores the importance of the Norwegian market to our Bermuda corporate practice.
The 12 months since our last issue have been very different, to say the least, and something of a roller-coaster with second and third waves of Covid-19.
In general, 2020 was an especially difficult year for raising capital in the shipping sector. Across the segments total raised capital dropped 52% on 2019, according to Norwegian investment bank Fearnley Securities.
Nonetheless, Oslo-listed Bermuda companies in the shipping and offshore energy sectors completed some offerings, including:
Stolt-Nielsen’s US$180.5 million bond offering in June 2020
CPPIB says no negative screening for ESG investing
Asia head Suyi Kim says ESG is not short-term investment theme
Jung-hwan Hwang May 27, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
Suyi Kim, senior managing director and head of Asia Pacific at CPP Investments
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) does not carry out negative screening to exclude companies and sectors that do not comply with environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards so that the pension scheme will not miss good investment opportunities, said its Asian operations head.
For ESG investing, the CPPIB, or CPP Investments, selects companies based on its analyses of the correlation between ESG factors and the company s financial results, as well as on the estimated risk-adjusted returns that factor in ESG matters.
Canada’s top pension funds boost investments in high-carbon oil sands
Canada’s biggest pension managers boosted their investments in the country’s major oil sands companies in the first quarter of 2021, raising questions about the funds’ recent commitments to greening their portfolios.
The cumulative investment by the country’s top five pension funds into the U.S.-listed shares of Canada’s top four oil sands producers jumped to $2.4 billion in the first quarter of 2021, up 147% from a year ago, a Reuters analysis of U.S. 13-F filings show. Much of that increase, which bucked a declining trend since 2018, came from rising prices of shares already owned, but the funds also purchased more shares.