GMO Bond Veteran Is Buying Debt ESG Fans Are Loath to Touch

Tina Vandersteel favors the bonds of some big polluters, a strategy that sets her apart from a crowd of investors who are caving in to pressure to ditch such assets.

Vandersteel, a three-decade bond veteran at Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co., is buying debt sold by Latin American oil and gas companies such as Petroperu and Petroleos Mexicanos. In avoiding these securities, investors are overlooking company plans for improving their environmental, social and governance scores, she said.

Tina Vandersteel

Source: Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co.

The fund’s clients understand that “for now we’re only focused on the credit risk” of companies such as Petroperu, even if ...