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SSF Newsletter June 2021
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Passing the Baton
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Dear Sir or Madam,
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Our members elected Patrick Odier, Senior Managing Partner of Lombard Odier, as the new SSF president at the SSF Members’ Assembly this Tuesday– Congratulations! We would like to thank Jean-Daniel Gerber, who retired as president after six years in office, for his personal commitment and attentive stewardship. Under his guidance, SSF became what it is; a highly regarded and credible voice in all aspects of sustainable finance. We equally welcome Patrick Odier and look forward to his support when addressing the many topics on our agenda, transparency being just the beginning.
Reports such as a recent Greenpeace study, questioning the positive effect of sustainable investments, increase the pressure on financial players to demonstrate the impact of their solutions. Against this backdrop, the SSF reporting recommendations for portfolios published this week are a timely contribution to the current debate on building investor trust. We probably all agree that following the rejection of the revised Swiss CO2-law in a popular vote from mid-June, the financial sector cannot delay measures and instead has to increase action on a voluntary basis. Providing ESG transparency is a first important step.
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Kind regards, Sabine Döbeli CEO, Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF)
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SSF activities at a glance
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New SSF president
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The SSF Members' Assembly elected Patrick Odier as the new President of SSF, succeeding Jean-Daniel Gerber, who steps down after serving the maximum number of terms. We thank Jean-Daniel Gerber for his valued support and welcome Patrick Odier!
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Swiss Sustainable Investment Market Study 2021
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On the 7th of June, SSF published the Swiss Sustainable Investment Market Study, which showed that volumes of sustainable investments grew once more, totalling CHF 1’502.2 billion.
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SSF Market Study Launch Webinar
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The SSF Market Study 2021 was launched with a webinar to an audience of over 350 viewers. Alongside the SSF team, Prof. Timo Busch, Co-Author of the study and Victor von Hoorn, Executive Director Eurosif, also reflected on the results of this year’s study.
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SSF Annual Conference 2021
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At its Annual Conference 2021, broadcasted live from the Kursaal in Bern, SSF hosted a discussion on how best to provide the transparency needed for sustainable financial decisions, with inspiring keynote speakers and a high-level panel. A recording and summary of the event are available online.
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Reporting Recommendations published
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The new SSF Reporting Recommendations on Portfolio ESG Transparency were unveiled at the Annual Conference 2021. The recommendations feature concrete guidelines on how to promote transparency and document ESG progress at the portfolio level– a first for the Swiss financial centre.
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Regulatory and market news
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Swiss news
- On 13 June, Swiss voters rejected the revised CO2 Act, which represents a significant and surprising setback for Switzerland on the path to reach its climate targets.
- Swiss financial market supervisor FINMA amended two of its circulars on disclosure and now requires large banks and insurance companies to provide qualitative and quantitative information on climate risks.
- The Federal Council has officially adopted the Sustainable Development Strategy 2030, which also outlines objectives regarding sustainability and the financial market (see chapter 5.3).
- Late May, WWF Switzerland published the 2nd edition of its Retail Bank Rating, assessing the 15 largest retail banks in Switzerland. According to the results, half of Switzerland’s largest retail banks demonstrate “good practice” in integrating environmental objectives, but none can be described as “visionaries” or “pioneers”.
International developments
Market trends
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New members and network partners
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SSF events:
Other sustainable finance events:
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SSF and sustainable finance in the media
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- 23 June 2021, L'Agéfi, Patrick Odier élu à la présidence de Swiss Sustainable Finance
- 23 June 2021, Investrends, Swiss Sustainable Finance lanciert Transparenz-Empfehlungen
- 15 June 2021, Corriere del Ticino, Investire con il metodo d’integrazione di ESG
- 14 June 2021, Finanz und Wirtschaft, Vorsprung Europas bei ESG-Investments
- 10 June 2021, allnews.ch , Banques: Guy Parmelin prône une focalisation sur la finance durable
- 8 June 2021, Le Temps, Gestion durable: 1500 milliards de francs d’avoirs en Suisse
- 8 June 2021, swissinfo, Investimenti sostenibili in forte aumento
- 7 June 2021, SRF Echo der Zeit (radio), Nachhaltig investieren mit «Engagement»
- 7 June 2021, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Investoren fordern mit immer drastischeren Mitteln robuste Klimastrategien ein – für unbewegliche Firmen wird es ungemütlich
- 7 June 2021, Finanz und Wirtschaft, Nachhaltige Anlagefonds erobern Platz eins
> Visit our website for more articles and regular updates
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Sustainability Funds Hardly Direct Capital Towards Sustainability
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On behalf of Greenpeace, INFRAS and Inrate analysed 51 sustainability funds licensed in Switzerland and Luxembourg to examine whether sustainable investments have a positive capital allocation effect. The results showed that so far, these investments hardly succeeded in steering significantly more capital towards a sustainable economy than conventional funds.
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Climate Change: Substantial Risks for Swiss Pension Funds
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This paper, available in German and French, examines climate risks for Swiss pension schemes, covering reputational and regulatory risks, disruptive technology, stranded assets, and physical climate risks. The authors come to the conclusion that although there are various means to manage these risks, a regulatory framework is necessary to supervise and encourage sustainable and responsible investments.
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Overview and Recommendations for Sustainable Finance Taxonomies
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This report by the International Capital Markets Association (ICMS) provides an international overview of both official and market-based taxonomies.
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The Changing Climate for Private Equity
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The “Changing Climate for Private Equity” report, a joint project between the SustainAbility Institute by ERM and Ceres, seeks to understand how climate-related expertise is embedded within private equity firms and explore what climate performance expectations they impose on the companies in which they invest.
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Interested in joining our network of members and partners? > Learn more
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SWISS SUSTAINABLE FINANCE
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