PG&E Corp. told investors repeatedly that weather-related disasters were a risk, but many didn’t pay enough attention until the company was on the brink of bankruptcy.
The company included warnings in its regulatory filings and offering prospectuses citing how disasters like wildfires, droughts and floods, could weigh on its results or disrupt its operations. But until mid-November, the company’s bonds were trading above face value, even those due decades from now, implying that money managers thought those risks were manageable.
Now investors are paying attention. PG&E’s stock market value has plunged to about $3.5 billion from almost $24 billion at the end of September. Most of its bonds are trading around 70 to 80 cents on the dollar. The sudden drops underscore how difficult it is for investors to analyze risks linked to disasters and potentially even climate change, rather than regular business difficulties.
“A lot of people think climate change risk is so far in the future that it’s not going to affect the bonds, but then you have something like this,” said Jens Peers, U.S. chief investment officer of Natixis Investment Managers’ Mirova sustainable investing division, which oversees about $10.7 billion in assets. Mirova was already steering clear of PG&E in part because of the 2010 San Bruno gas pipeline explosion, where it was found guilty of safety violations.
