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ESG Clarity: Listed companies in Asia Pacific are fast gaining ground on their global counterparts in incorporating ESG measures into executive compensation programmes, according to a study from WTW.
Yahoo Finance: Almost half of North America’s biggest institutional and wholesale investors worry they’ll face legal consequences if they consider environmental and social factors, as the political backlash against ESG broadens, according to a fresh global survey of firms overseeing $27 trillion.
CIO: In less than two years, sovereign wealth funds’ views of climate change’s impact on investment returns has evolved rapidly, according to a report that finds that the funds now see the issue as a financial one, rather than a social one.
Funds Europe: European investors are leading the way in making a net-zero commitment compared to their global peers, new research has found.
Portfolio Adviser: Allianz Global Investors has launched the Sustainability Insights Engine, a data platform which the firm says simplifies ESG data from different sources into a single readable data set.
FCA: In September 2022, we sent a portfolio letter to benchmark administrators where we highlighted the risk of poor disclosures for ESG benchmarks. High quality ESG benchmarks are important to support trust in the market for ESG products and the transition to a net zero economy.
BNN Bloomberg: Texas added HSBC Holdings Plc to its list of financial firms that “boycott” the fossil-fuel industry, potentially limiting what business the bank can conduct with the nation’s second-most-populous state.
Funds Europe: Charges on sustainable ETFs in Europe are commonly lower than their conventional peers, according to Refinitiv Lipper research.
U.S. News: U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday rejected a Republican proposal to prevent pension fund managers from basing investment decisions on factors like climate change, in the first veto of his presidency.
Yahoo Finance: Amid the banking turmoil that’s sent global capital markets into a tailspin and raised the prospect of a full-blown recession in the US economy, true believers in the bull case for emerging markets are digging in.
Nasdaq: With many economists predicting an economic downturn, investors may wonder how ESG investments will perform in a major recession. To find the answer, Portfolio Adviser asked a cross-section of industry commentators for their views. According to Max Richardson, senior director, of wealth planning at Investec Wealth & Investment, research on ESG performance during recessions is limited, but available studies suggest mixed results.
Axios: This year’s chairman’s letter from BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, published, gives less emphasis to climate risk and environmental, social and governance (ESG) investments than past letters — but doesn't play down the substance.
ESG Clarity: Hazel Ilango, a Singapore-based energy finance analyst for debt markets at the IEEFA, carried out an analysis of more than 700 companies who received credit ratings from the big three credit rating agencies – Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investors and S&P Global Ratings.
Yahoo News: For ESG fund managers, the “environmental” part of the formula often attracts the most attention in marketing pitches. But the two-year rally in oil and gas stocks has become too much for even “do-good” investors to leave out of their portfolios.
Portfolio Adviser: Research on the performance of companies that manage ESG risks during recessions is limited, but the available studies suggest mixed results.
Yahoo Finance: After being caught on the wrong side of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine and the Adani scandal, hundreds of ESG fund managers are now dealing with the sting of having misjudged Silicon Valley Bank.
BNN Bloomberg: The failure of Silicon Valley Bank has become the latest target for conservative politicians and news outlets in their mounting campaign against ESG.
Business Wire: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment announced the appointment of Maria Lettini as Chief Executive Officer. Lettini will begin her tenure on May 15, 2023, succeeding Lisa Woll.
ESG Clarity: Since the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) came into force in March 2021, we have had some significant updates, including confirmation from the European Commission that Article 9 funds should only invest in sustainable assets and an amended Taxonomy that now includes natural gas and nuclear power, with the consequent changes to disclosure templates less than two months after coming in.
Funds Europe: Influential investment consultant WTW strengthened the backing for diversity in portfolio management after producing research that showed greater diversity leads to better investment results.
Yahoo Finance: The percentage of women holding senior positions at European hedge funds has more than halved since 2021, according to a report by data provider Preqin.
ESG Clarity: Shareholders are voting for greater transparency on lobbying and political activity at the US companies they invest in, but fund giants Vanguard and BlackRock are holding back support.
Funds Europe: Covid-19 continues to constrain ESG advancements across major economies, according to abrdn's Research Institute's Global Macro ESG Index.
BNN Bloomberg: The ESG fund class drawing in the most client cash has become too difficult to handle for a growing number of asset managers, according to lawyers advising the industry and analysts monitoring the market.
Morgan Stanley: Women in the hedge fund industry have made historic strides recently: In just the past year, hedge fund launches by women gained momentum, and two female hedge fund managers raised more than $1 billion each in assets, setting records for capital raised by women-led hedge funds.
BNN Bloomberg: The ESG fund class drawing in the most client cash has become too difficult to handle for a growing number of asset managers, according to lawyers advising the industry and analysts monitoring the market.
CNBC: A group of Republican state financial officers gathered last February at a Hyatt hotel in downtown New Orleans to take aim at one of the party’s corporate enemies: BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.
Funds Europe: The number of ESG-labelled fund products in Europe grew by 89% last year, while the gap between ESG and non-ESG management fee averages has reduced to 2bps in the previous twelve months.
BNN Bloomberg: One of the world’s biggest hedge-fund associations said Europe may be overstepping its legal authority with a planned intervention in the market for ESG investing.
Bloomberg Law: Former Securities and Exchange Commission heads on Wednesday suggested how the regulator can encourage companies to improve diversity at the board level and throughout their business.
CNBC: The Senate voted to overturn a Labor Department rule that permits fiduciary retirement fund managers to consider climate change, good corporate governance and other factors when making investments on behalf of pension plan participants.
Edie: The British Standards Institution (BSI) has unveiled a new sustainable finance standard to help investors and financial institutions avoid greenwashing by setting credible targets and plans to improve approaches to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) performance.
Funds Europe: The world's largest asset managers are not doing enough to address the most dangerous crises of our time, according to a report by ShareAction.
ESG Clarity: Robeco, BNP Paribas Asset Management, Aviva Investors and Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) have topped ShareAction’s ranking of asset managers on responsible investment credentials – but no group received the top AAA grade indicating improvements still need to be made.
