How BlackRock Invests in Green Bonds & ESG Fixed Income | Ashley Schulten, Head of ESG Investing, Global Fixed Income (#036)

SRI360 | Socially Responsible Investing, ESG, Impact Investing, Sustainable Investing

What if your investments could be a force for global change? At BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management company, they’re steering capital towards a sustainable future with green bonds and ESG fixed-income investing.
In this episode, I’m speaking with Ashley Schulten, the Head of ESG Investment for Global Fixed Income at BlackRock. After graduating from Vanderbilt University, Ashley entered the world of finance as a bond trader at First Union. From there, she evolved in the financial world at institutions like BNP Paribas, J.P. Morgan, and Goldman Sachs, before landing at BlackRock.
At BlackRock, where over 600 people manage more than $700 billion invested in sustainable strategies, Ashley oversees ESG investing and integration in the active fixed-income asset class.
Besides driving the change toward a sustainable future within finance, her leadership extends beyond BlackRock to influential roles in the TCFD and the Executive Committee of the ICMA Green and Social Bond Principles.
Ashley is also an Aspen Institute First Movers Fellow and sits on the board of the Mianus River Gorge, the first land conservancy project for the Nature Conservancy, which showcases her commitment to sustainability.
This episode highlights the power of integrating ESG data into investment analysis and decision-making. Ashley also shares how she saw the birth and development of the green bonds market, explaining how they work, and how BlackRock was an early adopter of this transformative financial instrument.
By leveraging green bonds, impact investing, and ESG data, BlackRock not only achieves its desired risk profiles and outcomes for investors but also drives meaningful change in the real economy.
Ashley and I also discuss BlackRock’s PEXT/NEXT ESG framework that her team uses to evaluate, tag, and categorize investments based on their positive and negative externalities.
Ready to learn the ins and outs of green bonds and ESG fixed-income investing? Tune in.

Show notes: https://sri360.com/podcast/ashley-schulten/
About the SRI 360° Podcast: The SRI 360° Podcast is focused exclusively on sustainable & responsible investing. In each episode, I interview a world-class investor who is an accomplished practitioner from all asset classes.
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Key Takeaways:

Intro (00:00)
Meet Ashley Schulten and learn about her background (03:00)
Ashley’s evolution from options trader to Head of ESG of Global Fixed Income at BlackRock(13:22)
An overview of BlackRock & its sustainable strategies (21:09)
Green bonds & the role of publicly traded bonds in sustainability (25:50)
ESG criteria in investment analysis & an explanation of PEXT/NEXT (34:31)
ESG-integrated vs. ESG-tilted portfolios & examples of ESG fixed-income funds (46:58)
The evolution of green bonds into a trillion-dollar market & their role in sustainable finance (57:32)
Measuring impact on fixed-income portfolios & issuer engagement (01:05:22)
Final thoughts & rapid fire questions (01:13:50)
Additional Resources:

Connect with Ashley:
LinkedIn
Connect with BlackRock:
Twitter
Website