Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten
Den Haag, Netherlands| Invested through |
|
|---|---|
| Asset Classes | Impact bonds & Corporate bonds |
| Impact strategy | Impact Equities and Bonds |
| ISIN code | XS2081605912 |
| Industry group | Banks |
| Aligned with SDGs |
N.V. Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten (BNG) is 100%-owned by the Dutch government (50% owned by the State of the Netherlands and 50% by more than 95% of all the municipal authorities, 11 of the 12 provincial authorities and the public water infrastructure company). The bank was founded in 1914 and is based in The Hague, Netherlands. The bank provides specialised financial services for local authorities and public sector institutions in the Netherlands. It serves customers operating in the areas of housing, municipalities, healthcare, education, and public utilities by providing various financial services, such as loans and advances, payment services, electronic banking, consultancy, and asset management. BNG also participates in public-private partnerships. Its goal is to keep costs for these social services low for the public, by maintaining substantial market shares in the funding of the Dutch public sector and the semi-public domain. Its subsidiary BNG Vermogensbeheer offers local governments the option to implement a responsible investment policy. It also provides microfinance in collaboration with Oikocredit through the Fido Optimaalselect Fonds.
Investment rationale
Through its financing activities, BNG has a strong fit with our Social Inclusion & Empowerment theme. BNG’s mission is to contribute to a more sustainable Netherlands. It fulfils this mission by providing financing to municipalities, public housing corporations, health care institutions, energy and infrastructure projects and education. BNG aims to minimise the cost of financing for these public institutions. BNG is an important player in the energy transition in the Netherlands. It directly finances renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure projects and provides funding to public institutions to set up energy projects (e.g. improving energy efficiency, or installing solar panels, etc.), aimed at fulfilling the climate agreement in the Netherlands. By calculating and publishing its environmental footprint (energy use and CO2 emissions) of its own operations (scope 1 and 2) already since 2010, it is a pioneer in this sector. The bank aims to operate climate neutral as of 2020. Since 2020, it publishes the footprint of its loan portfolio, according to PCAF methodology. BNG is an active player in the green bond segment. Since 2014, it has issued 8 Sustainability Bonds (amounting to EUR 5.2 bln). For these bonds, it has developed a scientific approach based on SDGs together with the University of Tilburg to assign sustainability scores to projects that it finances. The proceeds of these bonds are used to finance either social housing corporations or municipalities with the highest sustainability scores. It reports annually on the impact of these bonds.