ESG

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals have captured investors’ imagination as a means of helping society while also capturing decent returns. And they’re gaining in popularity, with billions in inflows into strategies that follow them in the six years since their launch. The 17 goals are unique, as it is the first time in history that…

Covid and COP26 may not seem like a natural pairing beyond their headlines and emotive reactions they induce. Yet there are long-term investment consequences attached to both. After the initial ‘hurray’ on the global opening of borders and possible travel, the less exciting news is on the cost of Covid tests, the potential expense of…

Investment markets have a reputation for being ultra-competitive, with the concept of a zero-sum game meaning one investor’s loss is another’s gain. Yet in the fast growing “impact” investment sector, it appears the opposite is true, with managers seemingly revelling in the success of others. This was likely among the reasons behind the release of…

What do investors really want? This is the question asked by Ninety One, an Anglo-South African asset management firm in its latest Planetary Pulse survey. The survey spoke with more than 6,000 individual investors across ten countries including the UK, Germany, Singapore and the US, to understand their views on the pressure of Net Zero…

Don’t tell your young folk; but being good is hard. One can “veneer” an ESG, sustainable, ethical or any-nomenclature-one-likes approach, and then turn to the much more difficult decision on how that works in practice. Take on this challenge. China produces around 90% of the global requirement for polysilicon, used in making solar panels. All…

International asset manager, Robeco, known for its extensive range of active investments, from equities to fixed income and credit, is also a pioneer in sustainable investing. Having developed a proprietary Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) framework for credit portfolios, the company now sets the standard with its credit portfolios by using SDG scores that are validated…

As covered in Ishan Dan’s article here, the Responsible Investment Association of Australia (RIAA)recently released their Benchmark Report for 2021. It is somewhat of a temperature check on the investment management industry with the RIAA increasingly standing out as the leader in responsible investment accreditation and assessment. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics some…

As investors put more and more money into ESG-focused products, so too are they getting more sophisticated in their selection – in both what they are favouring and what they are avoiding. Perhaps they should consider avoiding dividend stocks and funds. Research from Morningstar, published last week (August 26), using work by Sustainalytics, its specialist…

Evergreen Consultants has launched its proprietary Responsible Investing Grade Index (ERIG Index), which rates leading fund managers on the seven broadly accepted categories of responsible investing. These categories are those defined by the Responsible Investment Association of Australia (RIAA) as integral to a more responsible approach. According to founder Angela Ashton, the team at Evergreen…

The infrastructure sector is set to play a critical role in journey to net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. The globe will look to spend trillions over the coming decades to make it happen. Much of it will provide a tailwind for infrastructure investors. Despite concerns about the opposite, the path to net-zero emissions is a positive…

Flows into ESG-focused managed funds hit a record $2.9 billion during the June quarter, as total assets in that group jumped 66 per cent for the full 12 months, according to the latest report by Morningstar, for Australia and New Zealand. The report, based on a universe of 135 Australia and New Zealand ‘sustainable funds,’…

In recent years there has been a large increase in the number of ESG-related investment products on the market, fuelled by increasing demand from consumers who are more aware of where they are investing their money. According to the Responsible Investment Association of Australia (RIAA), about 60% of Australia’s $3 billion-plus investment management market is…