Q3 2024 Gender Lens Fixed Income Overview

There is a growing array of private and public gender lens fixed income (GLFI) funds and products. Our coverage universe includes U.S. and emerging markets funds, private financial institution bond issues, DFI-backed bonds, DFI-issued bonds, U.S. notes and certificates, and a lending platform. A global emerging markets fund is pending launch. As of September 30, total AUM of gender lens fixed income funds and vehicles was $16.5 billion.

GLFI AUM Invested by Country and/or Region

The map below shows the countries where assets are invested through gender lens fixed income vehicles. Hover over a country to see the total AUM invested (in USD millions) and the percentage of total GLFI investment as of September 30, 2024. The country-specific investments on this map total $5.7 billion.

In addition to country-specific investments, there are gender lens fixed income instruments targeted at enterprises and efforts across regions.

Country-specific$5,749
Emerging Markets: Asia$8,883
Emerging Markets: Africa$ 54
Emerging Markets: Latin America$ 0
Global*$1,860
Total$16,546
*Global countries include IBRD borrowing countries, not necessarily gender lens investment locations. These may overlap with other regions shown.

Use of Proceeds

The proceeds from gender lens fixed income funds and vehicles are used for a range of women-focused financing needs, including to:

  • Advance the goals of SDG 5
  • Finance WOEs in Latin America, South Asia, SE Asia.
  • Finance companies with higher levels of WIL.
  • Finance WEP signatories and companies included in Equileap’s annual ranking.
  • Invest in fossil-free bonds with a gender lens.
  • Provide housing financing for women: U.S., Latin America.
  • Fund women-led rural businesses in Mexico.
  • Expand loans to women in Mexico without raising rates.
  • Direct funds to women’s health initiatives and projects.
  • Address the uneven impact of COVID-19 on women.
  • Provide loan capital to women of color who own small businesses in the U.S.
  • Invest in Nigerian companies with a female CEO.
  • Provide access to clean, renewable energy to women in developing economies.
  • Finance childcare providers in the U.S.
  • Increase access to loans for U.S. women-led small businesses.
  • Finance small and medium women owned businesses in Canada.
  • Provide housing financing for women in Kazakhstan, particularly in rural areas.
  • Provide loans to women-owned microenterprises in Colombia.

GLFI AUM by Vehicle Type

The table below summarizes the AUM by investor type for each type of gender lens fixed income vehicles with publicly disclosed data.

As of September 30, 2024
VehicleAUM (in $ millions)
Individual Investor Vehicles
Bond Funds1
Notes and Certificate of585
Total Individual586
Accredited and Institutional Investor Vehicles
Notes and Certificates16
Bond Funds356
Bond Issues
Developed Market Banks1,526
Emerging Market Banks3615
Sovereigns53
Development Financial Institutions10394
Total Accredited and Institutional15961
Total Gender Lens Fixed Income Vehicles16546

Parallelle Finance Gender Lens Fixed Income Dataset

We maintain robust coverage and AUM tracking of Gender bonds, a growing sustainable bond segment with issuances in developing and developed markets alike. See bit.ly/GLIQ for our latest quarterly analyses of this gender lens investing asset class.

Learn more about gender lens investing at Gender Lens Investing: What, Why, How?

Download Gender Bonds: A Toolkit for the Design and Issuance of Gender Bonds in Africa at Gender Bond Toolkit – Parallelle Finance

The above publicly-available content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.