Digital library on sustainable finance
TITLE
AUTHOR
PUBLISHED
LANGUAGES
Summary
This report reiterates the need for impact investors to raise and direct new capital to help meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and showcases how select impact investors are taking action.
The compendium of five case studies describes how the goals can be woven into the various stages of the investment cycle, as well as investors’ motivations for doing so, advice for other investors, and outlook for the industry.
Link
Financing the Sustainable Development Goals: Impact Investing in Action - EN
Summary
This report analyzes the sustainable investing capabilites of 15 private banks. The analysis refined and extended a framework and questionnaire developed by the Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth (CSP) for a pilot report in 2017.
The updated results show a diverse range of practices, but no single bank satisfying all the needs of private investors interested in SI. While the industry on average has well-established SI policies and targets, only few banks have top management paying attention to SI initiatives and even this is a rather recent phenomenon.
Link
Sustainable Investing Capabilites of Private Banks. Assessment of 15 European Private Banks - EN
Summary
For the 2018 Q3 UBS Investor Watch report "Return on values", UBS conducted a large global study of High Net Worth Investors (HNWIs) on sustainable investing.
The reveals stark differences in the sustainable investing landscape. Emerging economies, such as China, Brazil and the U.A.E, indicate they have the highest rates of adoption of sustainable investing (60%, 53% and 53%), while investors in the U.S. and the U.K. lag behind (12% and 20%).
Download
UBS Investor Watch-3q-2018-global-report-en (pdf 180.1 kB)Summary
The Climate Bonds Taxonomy is a guide to climate aligned assets and projects. It is a tool for issuers, investors, governments and municipalities to help them understand what the key investments are that will deliver a low carbon economy.
The 2018 Guide incorporates a full update of both the content and the format. It is the most detailed climate aligned criteria available in the market and provides guidance to issuers, investors, governments and municipalities interested in addressing the negative impacts of climate change.
Link
Summary
The 2018 BlackRock Global Insurance Report summarises the key findings gained from surveying 372 senior executives in the insurance and reinsurance industry across 27 countries.
As well as assessing trends in investor sentiment and the outlook for investment strategy, the report explores how insurers increasingly take into account environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations.
Link
Summary
In June 2017, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) released its final recommendations, which provided a framework for companies to develop more effective climate-related financial disclosures through their existing reporting processes.
This is the first Status Report to the Financial Stability Board (FSB), providing an overview of current disclosure practices and their alignment with the core elements of the TCFD recommendations.
Link
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures: 2018 Status Report - EN
Summary
This year's evaluation of the complmenta risk check-up of the Swiss pension funds contains a special feature chapter on the topic of sustainability.
The study covers 421 pension funds and an aggregated total assets of CHF 646.5 billion.
Link
Zur aktuellen Lage schweizerischer Pensionskassen: Complementa Risiko Check-up 2018 - DE
Summary
Institutional investors today are sensitive regarding the tax strategies of the companies in which they invest. Following recent cases of aggressive tax optimization practices of certain companies, institutional investors consider these practices to be major financial and reputational risks for companies and their shareholders
This paper publishes five expectations and best-practices regarding corporate tax responsibility of listed companies.
Link
Ethos Engagement Paper: Corporate Tax Responsibility - DE
Summary
To support the practical application of the OECD-FAO Guidance, in early 2018 the OECD and FAO launched an implementation pilot with over thirty companies and industry initiatives. The first stage of the pilot was a baseline survey to assess how companies and industry initiatives are implementing the OECD-FAO Guidance and other related international standards. This report presents the findings of the baseline assessment.
Link
Summary
In this second part of the Schroders Global Investor Study 2018 more than 22,000 investors in 30 countries were surveyed on the subject of sustainability. The study revealed amongst others that only one in four worldwide believes that sustainable investment comes at the expense of investment performance. This finding is an indication of a growing belief among investors that a decent return is not mutually exclusive with a desire to make a positive difference.
Link
Summary
This publication, Guidance and case studies for ESG integration: equities and fixed income, provides a global insight on the ESG integration techniques of leading practitioners across all regions of the world and includes case studies by analysts, portfolio managers, and investors, who share how they integrate ESG into their analysis and tell their stories of ESG integration.
Link
Guidance and Case Studies for ESG Integration: Equities and Fixed Income - EN
Summary
This best practice report contains guidance on ESG integration in equity and fixed income investments, as well as case studies on how ESG integration is “done” by leading practitioners. The report intends to help investors learn how they can better integrate ESG data into their analysis and investment decision making.
This report focuses on the current state of ESG integration in the Americas. Other regional reports will focus on the EMEA and APAC regions.
Link
ESG integration in the Americas: markets, practices and data - EN
Summary
Dies ist die zehnte Ausgabe der zRating-Studie zu Corporate Governance in Schweizer Publikumsgesellschaften. zRating hat in dieser Ausgabe die Corporate Governance von 176 börsenkotierten Schweizer Gesellschaften anhand von 59 Kriterien analysiert.
Sunrsie führt dank Verbesserungen einsam die diesjährige Gesamtrangliste vor Burkhalter und Schaffner an.
Link
Summary
This is a follow-up study by DWS and the University of Hamburg to their 2015 analysis which examined literature to find links between ESG and corporate financial performance (CFP). In this study, they find a highly significant, positive, robust, and bilateral ESG-CFP correlation. The conclusions confirm the business case for being a good firm.
Download
201809_ESG_Study_2018_Digging_deeper_DWS_UniHamburg (pdf 980.7 kB)Summary
This paper analyzes the approaches adopted by institutional investors to manage climate risk in their portfolios. The authors review the evidence about the adoption of these strategies, in both advanced and developing capital markets. They then analyze the pros and cons of each strategy in promoting more sustainable climate practices and identify best practices. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for capital markets regulators to incentivize the adoption of sustainable practices among institutional investors and calls for the standardization of definitions of green investments and financing tools to avoid greenwash.
Link
Stimulating Non-Bank Financial Institutions' Participation in Green Investments - EN
Summary
This working paper finds that credit risk assessment and ratings tend to overstate credit risk and thereby constrain finance for clean energy projects. The cost of finance has a relatively high impact on the returns and viability of clean energy projects compared with fossil fuel-based energy projects, because the operating costs for renewable energy projects are very low. Access to institutional finance is particularly constrained in the distributed renewable energy sector, as the transaction costs are high, consumer credit risk is high or unknown, and a variety of other challenges exist.
Link
Managing Credit Risk and Improving Access to Finance in Green Energy Projects - EN
Summary
The impact investing market map is designed to offer guidance and best practice on what constitutes an impact investment. It focuses on medium and large impact investing companies in the real economy and contains information (definitions, criteria, KPIs) on 10 thematic investments themes that contribute to sustainability and the SDGs.
The resource aims to bring more clarity to the process of identifying mainstream impact investing companies and thematic investments so that asset owners and fund managers can better assess opportunities in this market.
Link
Summary
This paper provides a snapshot of impact investment policy-making. Its purpose is to share real reflections from governments across the world and foster more collaboration on the way that policy in this area is designed and delivered.
Using evidence from over 50 interviews with policy-makers, civil society and private sector stakeholders across 17 countries, the paper provides a number of practical examples and first-hand reflections on how governments can be more effective in designing policy to support impact investing and helping this nascent market develop.
Link
Summary
Often overlooked in the divestment debate is the financial case for divestment. This paper makes the case for divestment as a proper financial response by investment trustees to current market conditions and to the outlook facing the coal, oil and gas sectors. It is driven principally by the likelihood that future returns from the fossil fuel sector will not replicate past performance.
Download
180716_Divestment-from-Fossil-Fuels_The-Financial-Case_July-2018_IEEFAorg (pdf 1.8 MB)Summary
PART 2: Physical risks and opportunities
The physical risks from a changing climate may differentially affect the financial health of businesses and impact the financial performance of sectors, creating risks and opportunities for those financing or investing in them. To date, risks and opportunities resulting from the physical impacts of climate change have received attention within the insurance sector, but have not been widely assessed in credit and lending portfolios held by banks.
In this pilot project, sixteen banks have developed methodologies in line with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure’s (TCFD) Recommendations to assess the risks and opportunities from the physical impacts of climate change on their loan portfolios.
Download
NAVIGATING A NEW CLIMATE (002) (pdf 5.4 MB)Summary
This whitepaper investigates the relationship between ESG scores and characteristics of corporate bonds issuers. The authors examine the main investment implications in fixed income, focusing on corporate bond issuers, and investigate the impact of ESG factors on fixed income portfolios. The paper then aims to establish empirically whether ESG characteristics can be considered an additional, independent risk factor with respect to traditional fixed income factors. To this end, ESG scores are used in combination with traditional investment metrics such as issuer financials, default probability, liquidity measures and spread performance.
Download
ESG White Paper_FidelityInternational_ FINAL (pdf 550.7 kB)Summary
Diversity was once seen mainly as a manifest realisation of the quest for social justice. Today, especially in a workplace setting, it is also widely recognised as a source of competitive advantage and as an issue that acknowledges the differences that might exist not just between demographics or groups but between individuals.
This whitepaper traces diversity in the workplace over the course of almost 50 years. It revisits the research that highlighted diversity's contribution to team performance and concludes by exploring the millennial generation’s unprecedented and increasingly influential commitment to the cause.
Link
Summary
This whitepaper evaluates the investment performance of ESG, paying particular attention to recent performance and highlighting the difference between ESG scores that overlap with traditional risk model factors and those that don’t. The analysis indicates that, in general, increasing exposure to ESG rarely underperforms the market, and often outperforms the market, especially during the last few years.
Link
Summary
The academic and policy debate regarding the role of central banks and financial regulators in addressing climate-related financial risks has rapidly expanded in recent years. This Perspective presents the key controversies and discusses potential research and policy avenues for the future. Developing a comprehensive analytical framework to assess the potential impact of climate change and the low-carbon transition on financial stability seems to be the first crucial challenge. These enhanced risk measures could then be incorporated in setting financial regulations and implementing the policies of central banks.
Link
Climate change challenges for central banks and financial regulators - EN
Summary
This report presents findings from the Global Impact Investing Network’s eighth Annual Impact Investor Survey. These findings reflect 229 respondents’ perspectives on the growth and development of the impact investing industry. The report includes analysis of respondents’ investment activity, asset allocations, impact measurement practices, and performance. For the first time, the report also presents trends analysis for a subset of 82 respondents that participated in the survey in 2013 and again this year. Major market developments over the course of 2017 are also described throughout the report. Key Findings:
- The market is diverse
- The impact investing industry is growing
- Impact investors demonstrate a strong commitment to measuring and managing impact
- Overwhelmingly, impact investors report performance in line with both financial and impact expectations
- Impact investors acknowledge remaining challenges that need to be addressed within the industry
Link
