University of Cambridge announces new global bond index

In 2023, Dr. Ellen Quigley – a researcher at the University of Cambridge –highlighted a worrying trend: in the context of fossil fuel finance, debt mattered more than equity. Academics, most notably the University of Edinburgh’s Theodor Cojoianu and his co-authors, have estimated that around 90% of new capital pouring into fossil fuels, is attributable to debt markets.

If asset owners wanted to steer the agenda on corporate decarbonisation, Dr. Quigley concluded, a fixed income index was a tool worth considering.

On 11 April 2025, the University of Cambridge announced that it would act on her advice. The university has partnered with Bloomberg Index Services Limited (BISL) to announce a new fixed income index aimed at offering investors more influence over corporate emissions reduction.

Evidence-based selection

The Bloomberg Cambridge University fixed income index will cover fossil fuel companies in addition to utilities, insurance and financial sector companies.

The innovation lies in the index selection strategy. As opposed to selecting assets based on sector of operation, the index will select companies based on current emissions reduction activities. In effect, this should favour companies phasing down their fossil fuel activities in line with the Paris Agreement and exclude those that are not.

“The index is a game-changer for the growing number of asset owners who invest in corporate debt and understand its impact on fossil fuel expansion, particularly the construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure such as coal- and gas-fired power plants which risk locking in fossil fuel usage for decades”, said Anthony Odgers, Chief Financial Officer at the University of Cambridge.

BISL will provide the technical capacity to bring this asset selection vision to life.

“Bloomberg transition risk analytics provides the support to Cambridge’s innovative methodology to transform this index into a tool for asset owners to address their goals of engaging corporations with the latest academic evidence for impacting change in the real economy”, commented Dave Gedeon – BISL's chief executive.

Asset owner collaboration

A set of asset owners from across the globe were closely involved in the index design process. The UK’s Universities Superannuation Scheme, US-based California State Teachers' Retirement System, Swiss Federal Pension Fund PUBLICA and the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UN JSPF) all provided technical inputs.

“We are excited to be part of this initiative whereby asset owners have an index that enables them to invest responsibly”, added Pedro Guazo, a representative of the UN secretary general for JSPF investments.

The UN JSPF will join the University of Cambridge in allocating capital to the index following its launch later this year.