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ESG Newsletter

      MetLife Investment Management to Buy Affirmative Investment Management for Undisclosed Terms

      2022-08-29

      Nasdaq: MetLife Investment Management or MIM, the institutional asset management business of MetLife, Inc. (MET), announced Monday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Affirmative Investment Management or AIM, a specialist global ESG impact fixed income investment manager with deep capabilities in impact investing, verification, reporting and engagement.

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      BlackRock, UBS and 348 ESG Funds "Banned" in Texas

      2022-08-25

      Axios: Wall Street giants have a Texas-sized problem: making good on flashy vows to make clients' investments greener while limiting political and financial blowback from red states.

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      From Meta to Twitter, What Everyone Gets Wrong About ESG — And Why It Matters

      2022-08-24

      Institutional Investor: Frances Haugen chose to join Facebook after a family member became radicalized online. She wanted to help make the social media platform less toxic. As she would later testify before Congress, however, she found that she had joined a company that persistently put profit before the broader social good.

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      ESG Officers Want Gov’t Incentives for Sustainability Drive

      2022-08-23

      BusinessWorld: SUSTAINABILITY officers from different companies — Metro Pacific Investment Corp. (MPIC), Prime Infrastructure Capital, Inc., and Maynilad Water Services, Inc. — have highlighted the importance of government incentives in achieving sustainability.

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      FCA Looks for External Experts to Help Shape its Work on ESG Issues

      2022-08-23

      FCA: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is establishing a new advisory committee to the FCA’s Board to work on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues, and is looking for expressions of interest from stakeholders to join.

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      DeSantis Amps Up ESG Attack, Banning Strategy for State Pensions

      2022-08-23

      Yahoo Finance: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is the latest Republican politician to take aim at environmental, social and governance investment strategies by eliminating such considerations for the state pension funds.

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      Vanguard Unveils New ESG ETFs That Exclude Controversial Assets

      2022-08-18

      BNN Bloomberg: Vanguard Group Inc. is expanding its offering of passive ESG funds in Europe, betting its approach of excluding controversial industries will appeal to investors confused by other more complex products touting environmental, social and governance metrics.

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      US Fund Manager Under Fire Over Sponsorship of Climate Sceptics

      2022-08

      360: Federated Hermes, a champion of eco-friendly investment strategies, is coming under increasing pressure to explain its sponsorship of a coalition of senior U.S. officials opposed to climate change.

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      ‘ESG’ Stripped From 23% of EU Sustainable Funds in Fresh Review

      2022-08-18

      BNN Bloomberg: Almost a quarter of funds that claim to “promote” sustainability under European regulations don’t deserve an “ESG” label, according to a fresh review by market researcher Morningstar Inc.

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      Carbon-Tech Draws Record VC Funding as Investors Hunt for Impact

      2022-08-17

      BNN Bloomberg: Buoyed by corporate and government pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions, a record $1.4 billion poured into climate and carbon-focused startups in the second quarter of this year. That’s in stark contrast to the broader market for venture funding, which faces its largest quarterly percentage drop in nearly a decade, according to CB Insights.

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      Trustees Face Track Record Challenge with ESG Funds

      2022-08-17

      Professional Pensions: Trustees are facing challenges over the lack of long-term performance track records for sustainable funds as well as issues with the availability of such strategies, latest research finds.

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      ‘Hating ESG’: Advocates Are Looking to Replace the Label

      2022-08-17

      BNN Bloomberg: A number of sustainable investing champions say it’s time for the “ESG” label to be shelved and replaced by something less likely to draw attacks from both the political right and left.

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      Short Sellers Target Asos and Boohoo Following CMA Greenwashing Investigation

      2022-08-17

      Hedge Week: Hedge fund short sellers have again been betting against fashion retailers Asos and Boohoo following an investigation into greenwashing at the two companies by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), according to a report by Charged.

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      abrdn Launches Sustainability Institute, Americas & Appoints Fionna Ross to Lead

      2022-08-16

      abrdn: Leading global asset manager abrdn is pleased to announce the launch of the abrdn Sustainability Institute, Americas and the appointment of Fionna Ross as Sustainability Investment Specialist & Head of the Sustainability Institute, Americas.

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      MFA Says SEC's Proposed Change to ESG Disclosures Will Render the Term 'Meaningless'

      2022-08-16

      Hedge Week: The Managed Funds Association (MFA), a trade association for the global alternative asset management industry, has submitted a comment letter to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in response to its proposed rule to enhance disclosures of ESG investment practices by investment advisers.

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      Investors Hope to Hurt Firearms and Fossil Fuel Companies by Shunning Them — But Research Shows Divesting Has Little Impact

      2022-08-15

      Institutional Investor: Investors who exclude sin stocks from their portfolios, hoping to hurt these companies’ valuations and access to capital, may be disappointed in the actual impact. 

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      NNIP: Asset Managers Must ‘Step Up’ on Sustainability in Executive Pay

      2022-08-15

      Funds Europe: Dutch asset manager NN Investment Partners (NNIP) has called on the industry to take active steps towards curbing excessive executive pay and use remuneration to encourage long-term sustainable behaviour.

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      VCs Say Climate Bill Will Help ‘Prime the Pump’ for Startup Growth

      2022-08-12

      BNN Bloomberg: Investors at G2 Venture Partners, a Silicon Valley firm that backs climate technology, spent this week poring over the Inflation Reduction Act, the US Senate’s landmark climate bill that is expected to be up for a vote Friday in the House of Representatives. It was an exercise in cautious optimism. 

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      Vistria, with $8 Billion in Assets, Weighs Minority Stake Sale

      2022-08-11

      Yahoo News: Vistria Group, an investment firm that aims to achieve both positive social change and investor returns, is exploring the sale of a stake, people with knowledge of the matter said.

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      Angelo Gordon Joins Novata General Partner Advisory Committee to Advance ESG in Private Markets

      2022-08-11

      Business Wire: Angelo Gordon, a $50 billion alternative investment firm focused on credit and real estate investing, has joined Novata’s General Partner (GP) Advisory Committee. Novata, a public benefit corporation backed by the Ford Foundation, Hamilton Lane, S&P Global and Omidyar Network, is the leading ESG data management platform built for the private markets. 

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      Republicans Are Focusing on a New Economic Threat: ESG Scores

      2022-08-10

      Yahoo Finance: To Blake Masters, the newly minted Republican Senate nominee in Arizona, ESG scores are an existential threat to the US economy along with inflation -- an issue worth campaigning on as ardently as securing the border, preventing voter fraud and challenging Big Tech.

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      ESG’s ‘Social License’ Will Endure Even If the Letters Don’t

      2022-08-10

      BNN Bloomberg: Much has been written about how Vladimir Putin’s February invasion of Ukraine raised geopolitical questions about why ESG-focused funds were even invested in Russia. Then markets tanked, with many huge ESG funds getting slammed for posting losses worse than those suffered by benchmarks, thanks to their massive holdings in beat-up tech stocks.

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      What’s Wrong with ESG Ratings?

      2022-08-08

      JDSupra: About a year ago, the Brookings Institution held a panel discussion regarding the role that the SEC should play in ESG investing and invited SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce to speak at the panel. 

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      Texas Joins Republican AGs Slamming Larry Fink on ESG Investment

      2022-08-08

      BNN Bloomberg: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Monday that he joined a group of Republican state officials accusing BlackRock Inc. Chief Executive Office Larry Fink of relying on sustainable investments instead of shareholders’ profits. 

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      Marc Andreessen ‘Opposed Affordable Housing’ in His Wealthy Silicon Valley Town

      2022-08-08

      NY Post: Marc Andreessen, the billionaire tech investor, urged local officials in his exclusive Bay Area town not to build affordable housing for fear it would devalue his own property — even as he publicly railed against “crazily skyrocketing housing prices,” according to a report.

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      Asset Manager Tackles Greenwashing with AI

      2022-08-08

      Investor Daily: Acadian Asset Management has announced it has developed an automated system to help identify greenwashing in potential investment targets.

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      NYC’s Comptroller Strikes Back at Republicans’ ESG Criticisms

      2022-08-05

      BNN Bloomberg: New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who helps oversee about $240 billion in pension funds, said efforts by conservative US states to thwart the financial industry’s plans to address climate change are just a cover to defend the interests of oil companies.

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      Northern Trust Asset Management Launches Quantitative ESG Strategy for EMEA and APAC Investors

      2022-08-04

      Business Wire: Northern Trust Asset Management (NTAM), one of the world’s leading investment managers, has expanded its suite of responsible quantitative investment solutions, with the launch of the NT World Quality ESG Strategy, which has been available for U.S. investors since 2015.

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      Australia Pension Fund NGS Super Divests from Fossil Energy Companies

      2022-08-04

      IEEFA: Australian pension fund NGS Super said it had sold all its holdings in oil and gas companies, worth A$191 million ($133 million), in a drive to achieve a portfolio with net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

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      Traders Are Big Fans of the ‘G’ in ESG

      2022-08-03

      BNN Bloomberg: There’s been much debate about which letter matters most to investors in the abbreviation ESG. Numerous surveys have been done on the topic, with many concluding that the “E” for environmental carries the most weight. 

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      Carlyle Global Credit Launches Decarbonisation-linked Financing Programme

      2022-08-02

      Private Equity Wire: Global investment firm Carlyle's Global Credit platform has launched a decarbonisation-linked financing programme, providing an incentive for borrowers to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions or achieve other climate-related targets.

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      New Research Reveals Disparity Between Proportion of Women Employed in Junior and Senior PE Roles

      2022-08-02

      Private Equity Wire: The proportion of female investment professionals working at private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) firms across Europe now stands at 20%, according to Level 20, However,  that figure falls to just 10% when looking at women employed in senior level positions.

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      Article 9 Funds Attract €5.9bn Inflows

      2022-08-02

      Funds Europe: Article 9 funds have gained popularity over their Article 8 counterparts, recording inflows of €5.9 billion in the second quarter of 2022.

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      New ESG Rules to Protect Everyday Investors Cause Confusion

      2022-08-02

      Yahoo Finance: A new set of EU rules coming into force will put fresh pressure on asset managers as they seek to steer everyday retail investors around the complexities of sustainable investing.

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      Funding Disparity Widens for UK Female Fintech Founders in 2022

      2022-08-02

      BNN Bloomberg: Funding for UK female-driven fintechs dropped by two-thirds in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year, widening the gender investment gap in the male-dominated industry.

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      More Sovereign Wealth Funds Adopt a Formal ESG Policy - Study

      2022-07-27

      U.S. News: Three quarters of the world's sovereign wealth funds now have a formal policy on environmental, social and governance investing, yet just 30% have set a target to reduce carbon emissions across their investments, a study on Wednesday showed.

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      ESG Use by Alternatives Investors Up 10% in Three Years

      2022-07-27

      Private Equity Wire: A clear majority (85%) of investors in alternative investments are integrating ESG criteria into their investment decisions, an increase of 10% points over the last three years, according to new research from LGT Capital Partners.

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      Drop in BlackRock's Support for Environmental, Social Resolutions

      2022-07-26

      U.S. News: BlackRock Inc, the world's No.1 asset manager, reported a sharp drop in its support for environmental and social-related shareholder resolutions, saying many were too prescriptive, while its backing for directors and executive pay held steady.

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      Fund Manager Calls Out ‘Speculators’ in ESG Commodities Bet

      2022-07-26

      BNN Bloomberg: The head of multi-asset strategies at Robeco Institutional Asset Management is questioning the appropriateness of betting on commodities price gains given the current geopolitical climate.

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      Half of Firms Still to Submit MiFID II ESG Template Data

      2022-07-26

      Funds Europe: More than half of fund managers are still to provide relevant data for ESG products to meet the MiFID II regulatory deadline of August 2, a tech firm claims.

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      Rewriting the Rules: Key Issues Shaping the Compliance Landscape

      2022-07-26

      Hedge Week: As hedge funds’ compliance teams get to grips with a byzantine array of plans from market authorities on both sides of the Atlantic, wider economic and political developments are continuing to recalibrate the investment and regulatory environment.

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      Quant Manager Mark Carhart to Start Third Climate Hedge Fund

      2022-07-26

      BNN Bloomberg: The Carbon Evolution Fund will trade securities such as California Carbon Allowances and derivatives tied to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and European Union Allowances for emissions, said a person with direct knowledge of the new offering from Kepos Capital. 

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      Put Short Selling on the ESG Investing Table, Say Hedge Fund Managers

      2022-07-25

      Wealth Professional: Investors engaged in accomplishing environmental, social, and governance objectives have favoured shareholder activism and divestment as their preferred strategy. However, it may also be beneficial to take short positions on businesses that violate ESG regulations.

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      One Fund, Three Names and Lots of Questions for ‘ESG’

      2022-07-25

      BNN Bloomberg: The first was billed as an “impact” investment, the second as an “ESG” investment and the third as “sustainable” investment. In fact, those three BlackRock Inc. mutual funds started out as the same fund—one that was marketed and re-marketed under different names at different times as Wall Street sold the idea of investing with a social purpose.

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