Weekly ESG News: Financial Services and Insurance Industry
Weekly ESG News by Sustainable Finance Daily provide you with all relevant sustainable finance information of the last week. We cover the Insurance- and Financial Services Industry. No sign-up or mail address required.
Products and Service
Amundi launches suite of Net Zero strategies for different asset classes
Amundi announced the launch of a broad range of Net Zero Ambition funds across the main asset classes such as e.g. equities, fixed income, real estate etc.. The new strategies consist of actively and passively managed funds They are open to institutional as well as retail investors. All funds seek exposure to companies which support the transition to a low carbon economy to reach the Net Zero goal by 2050. Read more here.
Pictet Asset Management lauches China Environ. Opportunities Fund
Pictet Asset Management announced this week the launch of the Pictet China Environmental Opportunities Fund. The fund will invest in Chinese companies across the five industries renewable energy, green transportation, industrial decarbonization, resource efficiency and environmental protection. The strategy will be managed by Yi Du and classifies as Article 9 under SFDR. Read more here.
WisdomTree launches California Carbon Allowance ETP
WisdomTree launched this week a new exchange-traded product (ETP) to allow investors in Europe to gain exposure to the performance of California Carbon Allowances (CCA). The WisdomTree California Carbon ETP (WCCA) is fully collateralized and will list on the London Stock Exchange, Borsa Italiana and on Börse Xetra in Germany. Read more here.
LGIM and NTR raise EUR 390mn for Clean Power Fund
Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) and NTR have successfully raised €390mn in committed capital and co-investment opportunity in the first close of the L&G NTR Clean Power (Europe) Fund. The fund invests in clean power infrastructure assets across wind, solar and energy storage. Read more here.
BDC launches $150mn Sustainability Venture Fund
BDC announced this week the launch of its Sustainability Venture Fund which should support Canada to meet the country´s sustainability and climate goals. The fund will invest in seed to Series A and B Canadian companies. Specifically, the focus of BDC is set on SaaS, hardware-enabled software and software-led companies. Read more here.
CIRCA5000 to launch five UCITS ETFs focused on the SDGs
CIRCA5000 has confirmed this week that the asset manager will launch five new impact-oriented UCITS ETFs. Each of these ETFs will focus on a specific UN Sustainable Development Gol (SDG). The themes will include Green Energy and Technology, Sustainable Food & Biodiversity, Clean Water and Waste, Social and Economic Empowerment and Health and Wellbeing. CIRCA5000 has already received the regulatory approval and the launch is targeted for summer. Read more here.
AllianceBernstein launches ESG fund
AllianceBernstein launched its new equity fund “AB Global ESG Improvers Portfolio”. The asset manager will use an engagement and stewardship approach to increase the sustainability profile of the investee companies. Overall, AllianceBernstein intends to invest in 30 to 40 stocks with strong fundamentals and improvement potential on the ESG side. The fund will classify under Article 8 of SFDR.
Regulations, Government and Law
Climate Bonds Standards extends its framework
The expansion of the Climate Bonds Standard (CBS) and its certification scheme now allows for certification of non-financial corporates, assets and sustainability-linked debt instruments. Essentially, those corporates that are aligned with 1.5-degree pathways or will be by 2030 will be eligible for certification. Read more here.
EU Parliament adopts new law to fight deforestation
The law obliges companies to ensure products sold in the EU have not led to deforestation and forest degradation. The EU intends to fight climate change and biodiversity loss with this new law. The products covered by the new legislation are: cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm-oil, soya and wood, including products that contain, have been fed with or have been made using these commodities (such as leather, chocolate and furniture). Read more here.
Net Zero
Singapore unveils details for Net Zero Action Plan (FiNZ)
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched a net zero transition financing plan. The plan should support Singapore to reach its sustainability and climate transition targets. Overall, MAS goes beyond the scope of its Green Finance Action Plan which was launched in 2019.
ESG News about Green Bonds and Sustainability-linked Bond Issuances
Australia plans issuance of Green Bond
The government of Australia published this week a statement that the government is currently working on the launch of a Green Bond. Subsequently, this should support institutional investments in the transition towards a net zero economy in Australia. The launch of the bond is planned towards mid-2024.