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
J.P. Morgan Asset Management buys timberland
The asset manager bought 250,000 acres in the Southern pine belt for more than $500 million. This marks the largest investment in timberland made by a professional asset manager so far. The investment was done via its unit “Campbell Global” which is backed by pension funds, foundations and other institutional investors.
Morgan Stanley IM launches new ETF platform
Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) announced the launch of an ETF platform with the listing of six Calvert ETFs on NYSE Arca. The ETF product suite features Calvert Research and Management’s industry-leading approach to responsible investing. It offers investors access to four indexed ESG strategies and two active ESG strategies across a range of asset classes. Read more here.
Crédit Agricole Assurances buys renewable portfolio from TotalEnergies
TotalEnergies sells 50% of a 234 MW portfolio of renewable projects to Crédit Agricole Assurances, including 23 solar power plants with a capacity of 168 MW and 6 wind farms with a capacity of 67 MW. Of the 29 power plants in the portfolio, 25 are already operational (180 MW). The four others (54 MW) will be commissioned in the first half of 2023. Read more here.
Northern Trust Asset Management (NTASM) launches natural capital Paris-aligned strategy
The new index solution will be available to investors across EMEA and APAC and the strategy aims to closely track the risk and return characteristics of the MSCI World Natural Capital Paris-Aligned Equity Select Index. Read more here.
Regulations, Government and Law
European Central Bank (ECB) will buy corporate green bonds
The European Central Bank has further deepened its corporate bond investments with a focus on green bonds of corporate issuers. The central bank announced the end to primary market purchases for non-green issuers. Already in July 2022, the ECB said that it is introducing a tilt towards climate-friendly issuers for purchases under the Corporate Sector Purchase Program.
Financial Reporting Council (FRC) will monitor ESG reporting requirements in company audits closely
The accounting supervisory organization said this week that it will introduce spot checks on the company´s compliance with ESG reporting requirements. Focus areas include ESG data and the transparency provided around ESG risks and opportunities. It will also introduce requirements for actuaries to take account of climate and other ESG-related risks in their work.
US Congress group launches Congressional Sustainable Investment Caucus (CSIC)
According to a press statement: “CSIC will bring together Members of Congress with experts to better understand sustainable investing and inform policy making that provides investor protections and transparency of information to market participants.” Representative Juan Vargas explains the launch as a consequence to increasing number of ESG funds which are attracting significant amounts of assets.
ESG Data and Analytics
Willis Towers Watson (WTW) introduces analytics platform “ESG Clarified”
Key features of ESG Clarified include a comprehensive analytics solution based on multiple validated data sources to support with insight, scenario analysis and reporting. Read more here.
Sustainable Finance Leadership Announcements
Arabesque AI appoints Minio Paluello as CEO
Dr. Minio Paluello joins from Schroders Asset Management to lead the roll-out of the cloud-based portfolio management service of the company. Read more here.
Sienna Investment Managers appoints Alix Faure as Head of ESG
Faure spent the previous year as Comgest’s Head of Responsible Development and a member of the Responsible Investment Committee before joining Sienna IM. As Head of Sustainable Investment, she joined AFG (the French asset management association) in 2019. Read more here.
AE Industrial Partners (AEI) appoints Jennifer Essigs as Head of ESG
Essigs previously held the position of director of ESG and human capital at the company since she joined back in 2021. She oversaw AE Industrial’s involvement in the Initiative Climate International (iCI) and the ESG Data Convergence Initiative (EDCI).
Net Zero
UniCredit announced targets for the financed emissions of loans
UniCredit announced the first set of targets under its commitment to the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). The targets refer to loans to the oil and gas, power and car sectors. Based on the requests of ReCommon and Greenpeace, UniCredit will stop the financing of new oil & gas projects in the Arctic Region. Furthermore, UniCredit will gradually reduce the exposure within the committed targets.