December 2022
22Dec

How schemes can enjoy the blooming of biodiversity bonds

Analysis: With the world’s nations reaching a historic agreement to preserve global biodiversity at COP15 in Montreal, attention is inevitably turning to how businesses can uphold the commitment to protect 30 per cent of the planet’s land and sea. Financing biodiversity projects has long been a sticking point for institutions. The International Finance Corporation describes a “lack of guidance in the market on criteria for projects eligible for this kind of financing”, resulting in a “gap” between investors’ ambitions and...

December 22, 2022
News,
Read more...
21Dec

5 Takeaways on the State of ESG Investing

ESG investing is hot. But what does it actually deliver for society and for shareholders? For the past several years or so, major funds, managers, and institutional investors have been stocking their portfolios with investments in firms that claim to be engaged in positive environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activities. On the websites of actively managed funds, investors show giant banners touting a commitment to invest in firms working to make the world a better, safer place, says Aaron Yoon, assistant...

December 21, 2022
News,
Read more...
15Dec

Swiss pension fund association lays out ESG reporting standards

The Swiss pension fund association ASIP has published reporting guidelines for Pensionskassen investments following ESG standards that will apply from 1 January. The ESG reporting guidelines include the disclosure of qualitative information on how pension funds deal with this topic, and quantitative information on individual investments. According to the guidelines, Pensionskassen would publilsh qualitative statements on the goals and principles of their sustainability strategies, underlining for example if they are anchored to investment rules, and the investment approaches for different asset...

December 15, 2022
News,
Read more...
13Dec

Financial institutions call on world leaders to adopt Global Biodiversity Framework

World leaders have been urged by 150 financial institutions representing more than US $24trn in assets to adopt a post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework at the UN Biodiversity Conference COP15. As reported by our sister publication, European Pensions, the statement is led by the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative and the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation, and calls on governments from around the world to adopt the framework for economic players, including financial institutions. The framework aims...

December 13, 2022
News,
Read more...
12Dec

US. Political fight against ESG continues in 3 states

Politicians in Kentucky, Florida and North Carolina have continued a crusade by Republican leaders for pension funds to break with ESG and BlackRock. While several state treasury funds have dropped BlackRock from investments, pension plans have been less willing to follow. In Florida, Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis terminated BlackRock from the management of $2 billion in the state's long-duration portfolio and called on the Florida State Board of Administration, Tallahassee, to drop BlackRock from more than $13 billion in...

December 12, 2022
News,
Read more...
08Dec

Global Public Investor 2022

By OMFIF Most central bank reserves managers are resigned to a period of higher inflation and lower returns, according to a report published today by OMFIF. More than 75% of the central banks surveyed for the 2022 edition of Global Public Investor believe inflation will be sustainably higher or more volatile for a prolonged period. Just 20% of reserves managers think inflation will be transitory. At the same time, central banks believe the new macroeconomic environment will cause their portfolios to suffer....

December 8, 2022
Books, Books, Investment, , , , ,
Read more...
08Dec

Can Investors Save the Planet? – NZAMI and Fiduciary Duty

By Tom Gosling & Iain MacNeil Asset manager signatories of the Net Zero Asset Manager Initiative, part of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, have committed to investing in line with the Race to Zero goal of limiting global warming to 1.5oC with limited or no overshoot. Given that a recent report from United Nations Environment Programme says that there is “no credible pathway” in place to 1.5oC, we explore the implications for asset managers, as fiduciaries, of investing...

December 8, 2022
Articles, Investment, System Sustainability, ,
Read more...
08Dec

Vanguard quits Net Zero Asset Managers initiative

Vanguard Group is leaving an asset managers initiative committed to net-zero goals and will pursue similar objectives independently, it said Wednesday in a statement on its website. With roughly $8.1 trillion under management, Vanguard was one of the largest members of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, which as of November had 291 signatories with a collective $66 trillion under management, committed to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Vanguard said in its statement that it was withdrawing from the initiative it...

December 8, 2022
News,
Read more...
08Dec

BlackRock adding ESG policy to its flagship U.K. DC strategy

BlackRock is formally incorporating an ESG policy into its flagship defined contribution strategy in the U.K., the asset manager said in a news release Wednesday. The LifePath U.K. series of target-date funds launched in 1997 had £9.2 billion ($10 billion) in assets under management as of Sept. 30. It provides access to 11 asset classes through index funds. Adding the ESG policy "is a continuation and evolution of LifePath U.K.'s ESG journey, which began in 2019, and reflects scheme members' requirements...

December 8, 2022
News, ,
Read more...
06Dec

Big Finance Has a Sustainability Problem. These Brands Have Solutions

The Co-Operative Bank and Make My Money Matter want to show consumers the power of their money The first question David Hayman asks new people he meets is if they know where their pension money is held. Most say they don’t. If you’re reading this in the U.K., you might be surprised to learn that yours is most likely invested in fossil fuels, tobacco or arms. In the U.S., just 14 public pension funds inject $82 billion each year into...

December 6, 2022
News, , ,
Read more...