Finance Monthly - October 2021

9 Finance Monthly. The Mon t h l y Round -Up the country, including things like clean transpor- tation, renewable energy and preserving our natu- ral environment. In help- ing us to build back better and greener, it will also help to create jobs as we transition to net-zero.” Following on from the government’s initial green gilt issuance, a second is set to launch next month ahead of the COP26 Cli- mate Summit in Glasgow. The overall aim is to raise a minimum of £15 billion for green projects. The UK’s first-ever “green gilt” is set to beat all pre- vious records for British government debt sales thanks to huge investor demand. £10 billion has been raised to go towards net-zero projects such as renewa- ble energy, electric vehi- cles, pollution prevention and control, and green building infrastructure. It is estimated that inves- tors have placed over £90 billion in orders for the 0.875% green gilt, with JPMorgan, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi, Deutsche Bank, and HSBC acting as bookrunners. According to the UK Treas- ury, the green gilt is the largest inaugural green issuance by any sovereign and has attracted the larg- est-ever order book for a sovereign green transac- tion. The gilts — also known as government bonds — are sold to institutional inves- tors, proving a fixed rate of return until their expiry. The UK’s first green gilt is a 12-year bond that will mature by the end of July 2033. The rapidly expanding green finance sector is “vi- tal in helping us to tackle the environmental chal- lenges we face,” Chancel- lor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said. “The launch of our first green bond is a signal that the UK contin- ues to be a world leader in this area.” “This funding will be used to finance vital green gov- ernment projects across UK Government’s First “Green Gilt” Raises £10 Billion after Record Investor Interest London-based FinTech firm Wise launched an investments feature that allows users to invest in stocks through multiple currencies and spend their holdings. Wise’s new investments feature, called Assets, al- lows customers to invest in BlackRock’s iShares World Equity Index Fund which tracks a basket of over 1,500 of the globe’s largest public companies. The fund’s holdings in- clude Amazon, Apple, and Alphabet. Users will also have the option to instantly spend up to 97% of the invested funds in their accounts via a Wise debit card and send money overseas. The idea behind this is that customers can hold their money in stocks but are also able to spend and send the funds in re- al-time. Wise’s CEO and co-found- er Kristo Käärmann said: “Holding money in various currencies can be hard to manage efficiently. Assets is seeking to solve that problem, by providing an opportunity for custom- ers to earn a return on their money with us, in a host of different curren- cies, all in one place.” Wise explained that it is keeping back 3% of users’ invested funds as a buffer in case of any significant fluctuations in the market and to prevent users’ bal- ances from dropping into negative territory. Wise has currently launched Assets personal and business for custom- ers in the United Kingdom but plans to roll the prod- uct out to Europe in the future. Wise Launches Feature That Allows Users to Spend Money Invested in Stocks