Benjamin Bailey featured speaker at Croatan Institute Conversation

Praxis Mutual Funds^® is pleased to announce that Benjamin Bailey, CFA^®, was a featured speaker at Croatan Institute’s November Croatan Conversation, “New Frontiers in Fixed-Income Engagement: Transforming Bond Markets through Activism and Advocacy.” The virtual event took place on November 18.

Croatan Institute Senior Fellow Bill Harrington led a discussion on new frontiers in bondholder engagement with a diverse group of leading financial activists and engaged fixed-income investors. An outspoken critic of credit rating companies, Harrington framed this Croatan Conversation with his insights on new advocacy opportunities for investors to push the companies to upgrade credit rating methodologies to holistically integrate environmental, social and governance credit exposures, both for individual bond issuers and for national-level systems.

Hosted by the Institute’s diverse team of strategists, scientists, and financial activists and analysts, Croatan Conversations are designed to bring the Institute’s widening circle of collaborative partners into deep dialogue about leading investment trends in climate justice, human rights, racial equity, resilient communities, regenerative food and agriculture, and other solutions to the world’s toughest social and environmental challenges.

“I am excited by the potential for bondholders to reach out to issuers and underwriters to engage important topics,” said Bailey.

“Shareholder engagement is better known, but bondholders can also make an impact by opening the eyes of issuing companies who are more likely to stick with traditional solutions. Today, however, many of these companies are doing innovative things in their businesses, but they may not always know those initiatives can be packaged and grown into something impactful through targeted green or positive impact bonds that will expand their pool of investors.”

Bailey is Vice President of Investments and Senior Fixed Income Manager for Praxis. He is a member of the organization’s investment management committee and has more than 15 years of experience in fixed-income investing. He has served as co-portfolio manager for the Praxis Impact Bond Fund since 2005 and co-portfolio manager of the Praxis Genesis Portfolios since June 2013. He also acts as co-portfolio manager on internal insurance portfolios and externally managed client accounts for Everence Financial^®.

View the recording of the event here.