Newton’s Third Law of Motion states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Investing in investments that have sustainability criteria has accelerated in the past decade – there’s now more than $4trn in total global assets. With this massive capital transfer into ESG investments, there’s been an increasing backlash to the … Read more
Following a decade of remarkable growth in US strategies that integrate ESG criteria into their analysis and portfolio selection, the 2022 US SIF trends report released last month showed a significantly lower number of assets under management. While some may say this data suggests we have reached “peak ESG,” or that this is a rebuke … Read more
Whatever you think about the alleged “backlash” against ESG that characterised 2022, there’s no denying the speed at which ESG as a concept has inserted itself into the mainstream of the investment world. Of these three factors, the last, governance, has been around the longest and is the least apt to set your pulse racing. … Read more
ESG products accounted for 65% of total flows into ETFs in 2022, amid a challenging backdrop for performance. The European ETF and ETC market amassed €78.4bn of flows in the fourth quarter of last year, according to Morningstar’s Direct European ETF Asset Flows Update Q4 2022, a figure markedly lower than the €160bn reported in … Read more
Transamerica is overhauling a large-cap fund, giving the product an ESG mandate. The company’s $159m Large Core Fund will become the Large Core ESG Fund on March 1, accompanied by a significant change in the range of securities it can select from, according to an SEC filing December 28. As of that date, the fund … Read more
Prudential has hired Diana Guzman as director of group ESG. Based in Singapore, Guzman will work across the business to deliver on the company’s ESG strategy and commitments, maintain constructive dialogue with key stakeholders, and further embed the company’s ESG strategy for sustainable long-term value. She will succeed Kerry Adams-Strump, who has held the role … Read more
Invesco has added an ESG bond ETF to its corporate bond range to meet investor demand for fixed income ETFs. Invesco Global High Yield Corporate Bond ESG UCITS ETF tracks the Bloomberg MSCI Global High Yield Liquid Corporate ESG Weighted SRI Bond Index and has an annual charge of 0.25%. Bond funds captured nearly 40% … Read more
Asset managers used proxy voting more than ever last year amid increased calls for transparency and a focus on stewardship, a report from ShareAction has found. However, the impact from industry coalitions and large asset managers remains to be seen. The fourth edition of ShareAction’s Voting Matters report analysed how 68 of the world’s largest … Read more
Big investors in meat and dairy companies lack policies and commitments to drive down methane emissions despite global pledges to do so, a Planet Tracker study has found. Hot Money, a report from the financial think tank and the Changing Markets Foundation, analysed 20 investors and 20 banks currently financing the methane-generating activities of 15 … Read more
Almost nine in 10 CEOs around the world think current levels of geopolitical instability will limit delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Their concerns come at a time of increased agreement among bosses (98%) that sustainability is core to their role, a sentiment that has grown 15% over the last 10 years. Despite … Read more