Three trends are shaping the European asset management industry, according to Jan Erik Saugestad. He recently visited Copenhagen, elaborating on his vision of conquering Denmark and the rest of Europe by pushing sustainable investment products.
The new standards are launched by World Bank arm and aim to create greater transparency in the growing market for investments that aim to generate a financial return alongside a measurable contribution to society.
Setting a specific target will help PenSam to fill its portfolio with more investments supporting climate change mitigation. "Relative to our current position, this is a somewhat ambitious, yet still feasible goal," says CIO Claus Jørgensen.
Finland's OP Fund Management Company plans to expand its range of alternative products in response to institutional investors’ growing interest
Denmark's pension giant ATP has just surpassed DKK 15bn (EUR 2bn) in green bond holdings, reports Danish business daily Børsen.
The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund's ceiling for green infrastructure investments has been raised twofold from NOK 60 billion to NOK 120 billion.
The low interest environment has made it difficult for bondholders to engage with corporate issuers as refinancing remains cheap.
Having passed the five-year mark in their UK Social Bond Impact strategy, Columbia Threadneedle is experiencing a solid uptick in inflows. The asset manager was recently requested to start a global Social Bond Impact strategy in a segregated mandate initiated by Austria’s largest pension fund, VBV - Vorsorgekasse.
Danish pension funds increasingly pull out of tar sand companies. Data provided by Information shows that the investments in the first months of the year have declined by several hundreds of million kroner.
It is worrisome to see that some funds seem to offer investors a stronger role in promoting sustainability than they could realistically have, says Ari Kaaro, managing director of Seligson Fund Management.
Danish pension funds are peeping at each other's suspension lists, but their strategies are very different. A suspended company at one pension fund may be investable at another. A survey finds that 6 percent of pension savings are invested in companies which are suspended by other pension funds.
Most fixed income investors talk about engagement, but few actually influence their companies, Sparinvest reports in a new article. The fixed income team’s direct engagements all aim to reduce downside risks and curate its reputation as a constructive investor.
A survey of the pension funds' equity holdings finds that DKK 42bn (EUR 5.6bn) of pension savings are invested in companies that are suspended by one or several pension funds.
Too many investment firms leave their active ownership duties to a team of ESG analysts instead of investment professionals. Engagement should be investor-led, according to one of the world's largest asset managers that recently held a seminar in Copenhagen about its use of active ownership.
Putting aside the fact that Saudi Arabia is suspected to commit war crimes in Yemen, 14 of the 17 largest Danish-based pension funds have invested in companies that supply military equipment to the Saudi kingdom.
Varma and S-Bank sign a pledge to encourage transition towards tobacco-free finance policies.
Drafting a global standard for green bonds is far from being a straightforward task, as Nordic, Asian and US experts all have their own views on what a sustainable investment is, says Jyri Suonpää, Ålandbanken's head of fixed income. Suonpää is part of ISO's group of experts aiming to launch the new standards in 2021.
Alongside Skandia, nascent fintech startup Matter Pension provides sustainable pension funds to eco-friendly savers and companies. The founders describe their customers as "modern idealists" and want to show customers how much CO2 they can save by investing in sustainable pension funds.
French-based asset manager presents its thermal coal divestment plan worth EUR 1bn.
At the age of 30, Pelle Pedersen had reached the peak of sustainable investments in the Danish pension fund environment. However, fear and impatience made him leave his safe job.
Sparinvest has landed a passive mandate at a Danish pension fund. The mandate is tailored to accommodate the pension fund's request for sustainable investments, and Sparinvest hopes more investors will eye this opportunity.
Investors with Swedish-based online broker Avanza will now be able to filter and select funds labeled with low carbon footprint through a independent risk rating developed by Morningstar.
Danske Bank Asset Management has published its first report on active ownership which describes the asset manager's dialog with the companies they invest in. The most commonly discussed topics are related to the environment, and the trend will continue, says head of sustainable investments who prefer to "threaten to stay" rather than opting out of an investment.
The Norwegian government has decided to exclude oil companies from the country's sovereign wealth fund "to reduce the vulnerability of the common wealth to a permanent oil price decline", says Norwegian finance minister Siv Jensen.
There are few women in the Danish asset management sector, however, companies and customers now call for more diversity. On International Women's Day, AMWatch's sister site FinansWatch has asked four women to share their experience and give advice on how to attract more women to the asset management sector.
