Morningstar launches the Global Sustainable Activities Involvement Indexes, which combines the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the revenue of listed companies to help investors choose investment targets that have more impact on the environment, society, and governance
The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) issues a report expressing its opinion on the ESG funds naming rules issued by the European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA)
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) recently announced that Hong Kong’s first tokenized government green bonds were successfully issued. The green bond is based on the government’s green bond plan and is also the first officially issued tokenized green bond in the world
Pensions for Purpose is committed to promoting impact investment action of pension funds. This study shows the progress of pension funds in climate-related financial disclosure and their actions towards governance, strategy, risk management, metrics and targets of the TCFD framework
The French regulator AMF issued a document recommending that the minimum environmental standards be included in the classification of ESG funds under SFDR to reduce the possibility of greenwashing
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) plans to carry out an ESG supervision on asset management companies. The supervision is under the charge of the Buy-Side Directorate of FCA, which includes the corporate governance content that asset management companies are most likely to have a negative impact on consumers and the market in their business activities
The International Capital Market Association (ICMA) replied to the draft Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) issued by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and advised on the three types of sustainable investment labels. ICMA believes that the proposal of SDR can help the financial industry to make greater contributions in the transformation of low-carbon economy, and the establishment of investment labels can facilitate the sustainable product development of asset management companies and help investors to select appropriate financial products
The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) recently released the 2022 Global Impact Bond Report, which analyzes the issuance and certification of impact bonds. ICE defines impact bonds as green bonds, social bonds and sustainable development bonds
Since United Nations Global Compact put forward the concept of Environmental, Social and Governance, the financial industry has always been an important driver of the development of ESG, and various types of ESG products have emerged in an endless stream. These products serve as a bridge between investors and companies, helping funds to be efficiently allocated to long-term assets.
Common ESG financial products include ESG bonds (such as green bonds, blue bonds, transition bonds, sustainable bonds, sustainable linked bonds), ESG funds and ESG indexes. Although these financial products are still facing problems such as greenwashing, they have indeed contributed to the development. Regulators are also trying to reduce the negative impact of these products.
ESG focuses on the improvement of long-term value, and ESG products are attracting long-term funds. In the current situation, balancing risk and return is an important topic, and ESG products will become an important choice for investors to allocate assets.
