Bringing opportunities to women in Asia

Pendal’s investment in the Asian Development Bank’s gender bond helps accelerate gender equality across the Asia-Pacific while keeping credit exposure anchored to a AAA-rated supranational issuer.

• Gender bond funds Asia-Pacific gender equality
• Targets women’s financial inclusion, improving access to credit
• Find out more about Pendal’s Responsible Investing capabilities 

Regnan Credit Impact Trust and Pendal Sustainable Australian Fixed Interest Fund invested in a sustainable bond from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) called a gender bond.

These bonds are issued in Australian dollars, and we have no exposure to any project level credit risk.

Our exposure is solely to the AAA rated ADB, a multilateral development bank established in 1966 and owned by 69 member countries[1] across the Asia Pacific region.

The ADB exists to promote inclusive, resilient, and sustainable development, and one of its core priorities is accelerating progress on gender equality.

The Asia Pacific region still experiences some of the widest gaps between women and men across economic participation[2], financial inclusion, education access, and leadership representation.

ADB’s work recognises that closing these gaps is crucial for improving economic productivity and supporting long-term social stability.

These bonds with their specific focus on gender allow investors to contribute to these goals while maintaining exposure to a high-quality supranational credit.

An example of the type of project that these gender bonds support is the Uzbekistan Inclusive Finance Sector Development Program[3].

This program aims to expand access to finance for underserved micro and small entrepreneurs, particularly women-led businesses, by strengthening the regulatory environment, improving consumer protection, and enabling new microfinance institutions to operate sustainably.

Uzbekistan has made progress in broadening financial inclusion and around 60 per cent[4] of adults now hold a financial account, driven in part by rapid growth in digital finance.

However, women entrepreneurs still face significant barriers in accessing credit.

ADB’s program supports targeted reforms such as increasing the ceiling for microloans, developing responsible lending guidelines, and establishing gender-focused lending quotas to help narrow these gaps and improve opportunities for women to participate in economic life.

[1] https://www.adb.org/who-we-are/about

[2] Economic and leadership gaps: constraining growth and skewing transitions – Global Gender Gap Report 2024 | World Economic Forum

[3] 57245-001: Inclusive Finance Sector Development Program Subprogram 1 | Asian Development Bank

[4] ADB Program to Boost Financial Development and Inclusion in Uzbekistan | Asian Development Bank

Find out about

Regnan Credit Impact Trust

Read more

George Bishay,
Head of Credit and
Sustainable Strategies