Sustainable Investing News | 5th July 2023

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  • 03 mins 08 secs

Learning: Unstructured

In this Sustainable News update, our host Rory Palmer discusses Bain & Company's most recent study on ESG factors as risks or opportunities and reactions from world companies; ShareAction's decision to challenge the definition of responsible investment to raise standards and prevent greenwashing, and finally Franklin Templeton's first social impact fund.
Channel: Sustainable Investing Hub

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Hello and welcome to this sustainability update on Asset TV. I'm your host for this one. Rory Palmer Making the headlines This week, Martin Curry launches its first social impact fund while share action calls on the financial sector to use its own definition of responsible investment to raise standards and prevent green washing.


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First up, though, a recent study by Bain and Company has found that banks globally are split on whether they view various ESG factors as risks or as opportunities. The survey, which included 55 banks, found that they're split between taking offensive versus defensive postures with a slight leaning towards offensive. Now, a lot of the differences in whether banks saw it as a risk or an opportunity vary by region.


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European banks appear to be more bullish on environment transition factors, with 60% viewing these issues as an opportunity or even an opportunity to create value. Meanwhile, fewer than a third of respondents in the Americas or Asia Pacific shared the same view. And while more than half of America's respondents view social issues primarily as an opportunity, most Europeans consider social issues to be more of a risk or a balance of risk and opportunity


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elsewhere. Nonprofit campaign Group Share Action has challenged the financial sector to use its own definition of responsible investment in a bid to raise standards and prevent green washing across the industry. Now it intends for this new definition to actively call on institutional investors ranging from pension funds, asset managers, insurers and banks to take responsibility for the real world. Impact of investments on people and on planet


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transparency is key to share action. And it wants disclosures made in plain English to cover the actual and expected impacts of portfolio companies, how they're factored into investment decisions and stewardship of investment companies, including an approach to public policy advocacy.


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And finally, Martin Curry, a specialist investment manager of Franklin Templeton, has launched its first social impact fund, the FTGF Martin Curry Improving Society Fund, its Global Fund Categorises Article nine. Under the EU's Sustainable Financial Disclosure Regulation,


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it aims to deliver long term capital growth on advancing fairness of social opportunity and narrowing the equality gap concentrated portfolio of around 20 to 35 global names will contribute to three impact pillars, improving well being, improving inclusion and supporting a just transition towards a sustainable economy. Well, that's all we have time for on this update. Join me here next time on asset TV. See you then.

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Allianz Global Investors

Allianz Global Investors is a leading active asset manager with over 600 investment professionals in over 20 offices worldwide and managing GBP 452 billion in assets. We invest for the long term and seek to generate value for clients every step of the way. We do this by being active – in how we partner with clients and anticipate their changing needs, and build solutions based on capabilities across public and private markets. Our focus on protecting and enhancing our clients’ assets leads naturally to a commitment to sustainability to drive positive change. Our goal is to elevate the investment experience for clients, whatever their location or objectives.

We started our sustainable investing journey over 20 years ago and were among the first 50 asset managers to sign the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) in 2007. We believe that sustainable investing can generate positive performance not just for our clients, but for the community at large.

We aim to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors across our entire investment value chain to better manage risk and enhance long-term shareholder value. Given the diversity of investors’ objectives and requirements we provide sustainable investing processes with a broad range of approaches, adaptable to different levels of ESG incorporation and client preferences. These enhance our clients’ investment decisions while helping create benefits for society as a whole. The combined assets under management of the ESG risk-focused and Sustainable product categories amount to over GBP 224 billion. Read our new blog for fresh takes on sustainable investing – from renewables to rewilding.

Data as at 31 March 2023

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Impax Asset Management

Impax is a specialist asset manager investing in the opportunities arising from the transition to a more sustainable global economy. Impax believes that capital markets will be shaped profoundly by global sustainability challenges, including climate change, pollution and essential investments in human capital, infrastructure and resource efficiency. These trends will drive growth for well-positioned companies and create risks for those unable or unwilling to adapt. The company seeks to invest in higher quality companies with strong business models that demonstrate sound management of risk. Impax offers a well-rounded suite of investment solutions spanning multiple asset classes seeking superior risk-adjusted returns over the medium to long term.

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iShares by BlackRock

Why we do what we do

Championing investor progress has been at the heart of the iShares mission from the beginning. Everything we do is about empowering investors so they can take control of their financial futures.

You would never settle for the status quo — that’s why iShares relentlessly pursues better ways to invest.

Capital at risk. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and are not guaranteed. Investors may not get back the amount originally invested.

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M&G Investments

Who we are

M&G Investments is a global asset manager, serving customers and clients for nearly 90 years since launching Europe’s first ever mutual fund back in 1931. We’re part of M&G plc, a family of brands, all aligned behind the same ambition: to manage our customers’ investments so that they can live the life they want, while aiming to make the world a little better along the way.
What we do

We believe it’s our financial decisions that have the greatest potential to effect the change in the world we all want to see. The future is ours to create, for our families, our communities and our planet. Now is the time to look forward, to take control and to act.
Through long-term active investment management, we build solutions around what matters most to our customers and clients. We look for the best opportunities to invest in, across a wide range of asset classes, on behalf of people who care how their money is invested.
We manage assets of over £284 billion (at December 2020) in equities, multi-asset, fixed income, real estate and cash for our customers and clients in the UK, Europe and Asia.
How we invest

Creating a sustainable future
We recognise that, increasingly, customers and clients are looking to align their investments with their environmental and social values and we have a range of Planet+ funds that have the potential to help meet this need.
This is why our investment decisions are underpinned by our commitment to investing responsibly. We support our customers’ and clients’ financial goals by aiming to generate competitive, long-term returns, all while working towards our mission to help fix the planet one investment at a time.
Targeting positive outcomes

We aim to improve the world by investing with care. Our active approach to managing money considers a broad range of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors that can have an impact on our investments. This is why we engage directly with the businesses we invest in. Supporting them in their mission to improve people’s lives, make society stronger and protect our planet. Helping others to become greener, more responsible and sustainable.

We’re dedicated to offering quality investment solutions and investing in the right way, supporting our ambitions for a more positive future. Not just for our customers and clients but for our planet too. We all want to create a brighter future for the next generation.

The value and income of a fund's assets will go down as well as up. This will cause the value of your investment to fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you originally invested.

We are unable to give financial advice. If you are unsure about the suitability of your investment, speak to your financial adviser.

Responsible Investing

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Neuberger Berman

As an active manager, Neuberger Berman has a long-standing belief that material environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors are an important driver of long-term investment returns from both an opportunity and a risk-mitigation perspective. We also understand that for many clients the impact of their portfolios is an important consideration in conjunction with investment performance. We consider ESG factors across our investment platform and offer a range of solutions to meet client objectives. We firmly believe that attention to material ESG factors helps make us smarter investors, and that engagement with companies on ESG topics helps them perform better for their investors and for society.

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