Reuters provides insights on how bond market steers clear of judgment calls

When Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in 2018, London-based hedge fund manager Dominic Armstrong bet investors would be turned off and the kingdom’s debt would take a beating. But investors largely stuck with Saudi debt. In an insightful report, Reuters took readers on a deep dive into how, for all the hype and billions of dollars globally pouring into investing based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, it is a niche play in the sovereign bond market. Some investors say that taking a principled stand on sovereign debt, and financially penalizing countries for their record on issues such as human rights could prove counter-productive by constraining modernization.