More than 95% of funds with the word ‘sustainable’ or similar would require renaming or restructuring in order to meet the sustainability disclosure and label requirements of US, UK and EU regulation, a study by Clarity AI has found. The data platform looked at the fund requirements in each region, finding “limited alignment” between them, … Read more
The investment industry is still getting to grips with an accurate definition of impact investing, said Artemis’s Sacha El Khoury in this Green Dream video interview. For her team, she explained, there is a dual mandate of delivering positive environmental and social outcomes alongside positive financial returns. She also discussed the approach for the Artemis Positive … Read more
FTSE Russell has launched a series of ESG-risk adjusted indexes as part of the continued expansion of its multi-asset ESG and climate index product range. The FTSE UK ESG Risk-Adjusted Index Series applies product and conduct exclusions and significantly reduces the carbon emissions and reserves exposure of the index, compared with the benchmark. It also … Read more
By investing in earlier-stage companies and having controlling ownership, private equity has the potential to tackle ESG considerations effectively, according to Jennifer Signori, managing director, Neuberger Berman. Here, Signori discusses creating value, engaging with companies and calculating portfolios’ carbon footprints. How does ESG create value within private equity? Private equity investors are uniquely positioned to … Read more
The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) is opening a chapter of its organisation in Japan next month to support local financial institutions transitioning to net zero. Part of GFANZ’s broader Asia-Pacific network launched last year, the Japan chapter will be headquartered in Tokyo and be advised by Masamichi Kono, former deputy secretary general … Read more
Capturing opportunities driven by climate change such as climate solutions businesses is as important as mitigating risk. But it can be less straightforward to identify quality businesses in emerging markets. For public equity investors, positioning allocations for lower levels of carbon intensity can potentially reduce exposure to climate transition risk. Reassuringly, at an index level, … Read more
ClientEarth and its supporters are “extremely disappointed” with the UK High Court’s decision not to permit its case against Shell’s board of directors to proceed and will be considering its next steps. In February this year the non-profit filed what it called a world-first lawsuit against directors for failing to manage the material and foreseeable … Read more
Climate change is real but does not pose serious financial risk, Federal Reserve System board of governors member Christopher Waller has said. Speaking at the IE University-Bank of Spain-Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis Conference, ‘Current Challenges in Economics & Finance’, in Madrid last week, Waller said the risks posed by climate change “are not … Read more
Despite a challenging macro environment in Asia and around the world leading to outflows in equities and bonds, some sustainable strategies appear to be bucking the trend, according to Jean Ryan, senior vice-president – business development and client services for Asia at KBI Global Investors. Here she tells ESG Clarity Asia what’s on the regulatory … Read more
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) should not expect all financial services firms to embed sustainability-related considerations in their business objectives and strategies, industry respondents to the UK regulator’s latest sustainability discussion paper have said. The deadline for responses to the FCA’s discussion paper Finance for Positive Sustainable Change closed this week in which the regulator … Read more