The BNY Mellon Sustainable Real Return fund aims to provide some shelter during market wobbles, while also delivering long-term growth in a sustainable way. Matthew Brown and Philip Shucksmith have been the fund’s lead managers since launch in April 2018. They’re both experienced investors and have served on the Real Return team for well over a decade. … Read more

ShareAction has proposed a standardised framework for asset managers to escalate their engagement practices, after its research found fund groups were “failing to engage robustly with the companies they invest in”. In its second guidance paper in its Responsible Investment Standards and Expectations (RISE) series, ShareAction said it was difficult to see how, and to … Read more

Aquaculture, agriculture and forestry are among the industries included in the latest round of sector-specific guidance published by the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), aiming to help organisations assess and disclose their impacts and dependencies on nature. The guidance provides businesses that operate in, and are connected to, the agriculture, aquaculture, forestry, mining, oil … Read more

Amundi has launched an SFDR Article 8 fund to invest across all Asian fixed income segments, with a focus on both credit and local rates markets. Diversified across corporates and sovereign issuers, the Asia Income ESG Bond fund will target high income generation with an optimised risk return profiled, employing a robust ESG framework to … Read more

In this year’s fun winter series for ESG Clarity, investment professionals in the sustainable investment industry answer questions on characters that would play them in panto, who needs to receive coal as a present, and ESG wishlists. Here, Caroline Langley, investment director at Quilter Cheviot, shares her ESG fairy godmother and panto villains, and her … Read more

Private capital flows to emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), excluding China, have dropped 22% since 2019 despite the ESG market growing 15% to $22trn in 2022 – and $1trn of that invested for positive impact. According to State of Play 2023, a study by Impact Taskforce (ITF), these figures show the need for greater … Read more

The gap between asset managers’ climate assertions and evidence of action remains “painfully wide”, analysis from investment consultant Redington has revealed. According to the firm’s Sustainable Investment (SI) Survey, out of the 127 managers engaged with and 281 strategies covered, although 86% of strategies measure climate-related risks and opportunities, only 38% of managers report using … Read more

Accelerating ambitions, rethinking mindsets around risk/return and simply “get on with it” were the messages to the investment management industry from ESG experts on the ground at COP28 following the first week of the conference. ESG Clarity spoke to various industry professionals to find out their key takeaways from the announcements so far and the … Read more

Over 800 signatories including global leaders, household name brands, NGOs, public figures, academia and scientists have come together to call on COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber (pictured) and parties to deliver clear plans for an “orderly phase out of all fossil fuels”, the scaling up for finance of climate initiatives and increased measures to protect … Read more

Rebecca Minguela, CEO at ClarityAI, has expressed her frustration at the lack of urgency the financial services industry is placing on the climate transition as she attend COP28 in Dubai. Speaking to ESG Clarity, Minguela highlighted financial firms are investing billions more in cyber security and financial data than they do in adopting technology that … Read more