Digital library on sustainable finance
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The 2017 Symbiotics MIV Survey, produced on an annual basis, aims to provide comprehensive market trends and peer group analysis on microfinance off-shore investments. Its primary function is to allow microfinance investors and fund managers to benchmark themselves and improve their knowledge of the industry. It also allows academia researchers and companies to have access to unique historical information about microfinance funds.
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2017 SYMBIOTICS MIV SURVEY Market Data & Peer Group Analysis - EN
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This guidance document is addressed in particular to smaller and medium size (SME) institutional investors to gain an initial overview. For this purpose, motifs and market developments are illustrated and investment strategies and -classes are analysed. The introductory document can not and should not answer all questions related to sustainable investment, but, if possible, refer to existing publications and guides, where selected topics can be studied in depth.
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Nachhaltige Kapitalanlagen für institutionelle Investoren - DE
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In cooperation with the independent rating agency Inrate, WWF Switzerland has audited the largest Swiss retail banks in the areas of savings, investment, provisions as well as loans and financing. The company management is also considered. The rating provides for the first time an overview of the overall sustainability level of the 15 largest Swiss retail banks.
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Sustainability in the Swiss retail banking sector - DE
Sustainability in the Swiss retail banking sector - FR
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This report is the first publication of a project aiming to establish a platform that profiles the sustainable finance capabilities of private banks and opens up an active dialogue on how to improve private banks’ sustainable finance advisory practices and enhance their service offerings.
The report summarizes the outcomes of the first phase of this project, presents the resulting framework of what constitutes private banks’ sustainable finance capabilities and shows the result of the pilot application of the framework with four private banks.
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Sustainable Investing Capabilites of Private Banks. Introducing the Framework - EN
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Dies ist die 9. Ausgabe der z-Rating Studie zu Corporate Governance in Schweizer Publikumsgesellschaften. Die Studie hat die Corporate Governance von 168 börsenkotierten Schweizer Gesellschaften anhand von 58 Kriterien analysiert.
Ascom führt die diesjährige Gesamtrangliste vor Inficon und Sunrise an.
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This third annual report on financing the UNDS presents the major trends, opportunities and challenges around financing the UN. After providing an overview of the revenue, income sources and expenditure of the UNDS, 28 concise essays from senior colleagues outside and inside the UN system help to chart five possible pathways for the UN’s role in financing Agenda 2030. The report seeks to present the current financial state of play and to stimulate fresh thinking around priorities for financing reform.
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Financing the UN Development System Pathways to Reposition for Agenda 2030 - EN
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Various studies report that investing in “sin stocks”, that is firms producing alcohol, tobacco, gambling and weapons, has historically delivered significantly positive abnormal returns. This finding has inspired the hypothesis that sin stocks are being shunned to such an extent that they end up being systematically underpriced, enabling other investors, to earn a return premium. In this article, the authors further investigate this notion, finding that the performance of sin stocks can be fully explained by the two new quality factors in the recently introduced Fama-French 5-factor model: profitability and investment. Their finding is robust over time and across different markets. In short, there is no evidence that sin stocks provide a premium for reputation risk after controlling for their exposure to factors in today’s asset pricing models.
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In the latest position paper, WWF intends to compare the sustainable finance activities in Switzerland to the ones by its international peers. It finds that there is little difference between market actors and civil society organizations in how they approach sustainable finance in Switzerland and abroad. The major exception is that Switzerland lacks effective framework conditions that encourage sustainable finance. In particular, there is a lack of incentives and support provided to the Swiss National Bank, pension funds, insurers, and Switzerland’s financial market regulator for embedding sustainability thinking into their core business. Therefore, the paper suggests seven policy recommendations to improve the framework conditions for sustainable finance in Switzerland.
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WWF White Paper: Sustainable Finance - Now or Never! - DE
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The OECD issued this paper which presents the findings of an international stocktaking of the regulatory frameworks that apply to institutional investment in different jurisdictions and how these frameworks are interpreted by institutional investors in terms of their ability or responsibility to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their governance processes.
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Investment governance and the integration of environmental, social and governance factors - EN
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This report is the first in a three-part series by the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) on its initiative to enhance the systematic and transparent consideration of ESG issues in the assessment of the creditworthiness of borrowers in fixed income (FI) markets. It provides a snapshot of the current state of play on ESG in credit risk analysis to better understand investors' and CRAs' actions, goals and expectations. Parts two and three will provide more in-depth coverage on existing challenges as well as future opportunities.
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Shifting perceptions: ESG, credit risk and ratings, Part 1: the state of play - EN
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This study, for the second year in a row jointly prepared by Forum Nachhaltige Geldanlagen and Swiss Sustainable Finance, provides an overview on the Swiss market of sustainable investments. In 2016 the market saw a sharp hike of 39% compared to 2015, bringing the total volume of sustainable investments in Switzerland to around CHF 266 billion as of 31 December 2016. As their importance for asset owners has steadily risen, assets from institutional investors now account for 82% of the Swiss sustainable investment market. Sustainable investment funds are gaining ground and currently account for 7% of the total fund market.
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Swiss Sustainable Investment Market Report 2017 - DE
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Position et plan d’action du Conseil fédéral concernant la responsabilité des entreprises à l’égard de la société et de l’environnement. Rapport du Conseil fédéral concernant l’état d’avancement de la mise en œuvre du plan d’action.
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The final report of the TCFD developed four widely adoptable recommendations on climaterelated financial disclosures that are applicable to organizations across sectors and jurisdictions . Those recommendations are grouped around the thematic areas governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets. The Task Force recommends that preparers of climate-related financial disclosures provide such disclosures in their mainstream (i.e., public) annual financial filings.
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Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (final report) - EN
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The aim of the publication was to spark the discussion and learning process on how the financial system in Switzerland can become more sustainable. One year after the publication of “Proposals for a Roadmap towards a Sustainable Financial System in Switzerland” by the Federal Office for the Environment (FEON), SSF set out to collect opinions on recent developments of the Swiss Financial System and the progress made in the five core areas of the “proposals". This includes asset and wealth management, institutional investors, credit business, capital markets, research and education. For this purpose, SSF invited its network to share their opinions on the developments regarding the implementation of the proposed measures through a short survey consisting of eight questions. A total of 34 individuals from the SSF network took part in the survey.
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The GIIN’s 2017 Annual Impact Investor Survey is based on an analysis of the activities of 209 of the world’s leading impact investing organizations, which collectively manage nearly USD 114 bn in impact assets, a figure which serves as the best-available “floor” for the size of the impact investing market. This state of the market report presents investors’ perspectives on key issues important to the impact investing industry and also includes new topics such as investors’ commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
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This is the 6th climate change report from Thomson Reuters and BSD Consulting which identifies the 100 biggest listed GHG emitters and finds that most of them have potential pathways to decarbonisation.
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Global 100 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Performance, New Pathways for Growth and Leadership - EN
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From 2020, Switzerland is expected to spend between US $ 450 million and US $ 600 million annually on climate change mitigation measures in developing countries. As in the past, funding will come from both public and mobilized private sources. On 10 May 2017, the Federal Council approved a report in compliance with a postulate issued by the foreign policy commission of the National Council.
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Internationale Klimafinanzierung: Möglicher Beitrag der Schweiz ab 2020 - DE
Internationale Klimafinanzierung: Möglicher Beitrag der Schweiz ab 2020 - FR
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A key aspect of the governance process inside organizations and markets is the measurement and disclosure of important metrics and information. This paper examines the effect of sustainability disclosure regulations on firms’ disclosure practices and valuations. Specifically, it explores implications of regulations mandating the disclosure of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information in China, Denmark, Malaysia, and South Africa. The results suggest that even in the absence of a regulation that mandates the adoption of assurance or specific guidelines, firms seek the qualitative properties of comparability and credibility. It is further shown that increases in sustainability disclosure driven by the regulation are associated with increases in firm valuations, as reflected in Tobin’s Q. Collectively, the evidence suggest that current efforts to increase transparency around organizations’ impact on society are effective at improving disclosure quantity and quality as well as corporate value.
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The Consequences of Mandatory Corporate Sustainability Reporting - EN
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This publication by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs in collaboration with the Global Compact Network Switzerland aims to support enterprises with the implementation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The guidance contains helpful information on the implementation of CSR principles and uses case studies to illustrate how the principles are applied in practice. The guidance also includes a self-test that allows you to evaluate the individual strengths and risks at your enterprise as they relate to CSR.
The English version of the publication was updated in 2018.
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This report written by State Street Global Advisors is a global survey of 475 institutions, which found that 68% of respondents believe that integration of an ESG strategy has significantly improved returns, showing that the adoption of ESG driven investment strategies has a future in institutional portfolios.
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Performing for the Future – ESG's place in investment portfolios. Today and tomorrow - EN
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The PRI and the UN Global Compact issued this report as a call on CEOs to ensure their corporate pension plans adopt responsible investing policies and to highlight concrete benefits including improved investment performance, fulfilling fiduciary duty and managing regulatory risk and boosting corporate sponsor credibility.
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Aligning Values: Why corporate pension plans should mirror their sponsors - EN
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This report from the Investor Group on Climate Change (Australia/New Zealand) and the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC) is thought to be the first institutional investor-specific guidance released in the wake of the TCFD draft.
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Transparency in Transition: A Guide to Investor Disclosure on Climate Change - EN
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In der Finanzindustrie zeichnen sich neue Spielregeln ab. Neben finanzieller Rendite gewinnen nicht-ökonomische Motive an Bedeutung: Anleger fordern nachhaltige Investments, Banken positionieren sich als sozial und umweltbewusst und Kapitalmarktakteure müssen die Verteilung von gesellschaftlichem Risiko und privatem Gewinn als fair legitimieren.
Dieser transdisziplinäre Sammelband vereinigt Forschungsresultate, kritische Reflexionen und Denkanstösse führender Expertinnen und Experten aus den Bereichen Investment, Bankmanagement, Finanzethik und Moraltheologie aus der Schweiz, Deutschland, Österreich, Kanada und den USA.
Das Buch kann hier bestellt werden.
Zürich Pano Verlag, [2017]
ISBN: 978-3-290-22037-2
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Ethik_von_Banken_und_Finanzen_INHALTSVERZEICHNIS_de (pdf 127.7 kB)Summary
Novethic's latest study, produced with the support of ADEME, analyses the European green funds market’s trends. The research centre reviewed a selection of 165 funds, that are available in 16 countries and hold assets of € 22 bn.
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The biannual Global Sustainable Investment Review draws on in-depth regional and national reports from GSIA members—Eurosif, Responsible Investment Association Australasia, RIA Canada and US SIF—as well as data and insights from the PRI, JSIF (Japan), LatinSIF and the African Investing for Impact Barometer. Together, these resources provide data points, insights, analysis and examples of the shape of sustainable investing worldwide.
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