Investment Officer

Wall Street is greenwashing finance. It has turned sustainable investment into little more than a PR stunt, and this undermines the fight against the global climate problem, according to Tariq Fancy, a former BlackRock chief investment officer.

iShares has won the 2021 Morningstar Luxembourg Award for Best Fund House Overall. It’s the first time a passive asset manager wins the overall award.

According to Morningstar analyst Ronald van Genderen, the award means iShares has simply produced the best risk-adjusted returns after fees across the equity and fixed-income range in recent years.

Under the partnership, through its digital platform Moonfare will provide access to private market strategies for Fidelity’s institutional and wholesale clients. Fidelity says it is responding to ‘increasing demand from its investors for alternative investment strategies.

Assets invested in funds domiciled in Luxemburg have exceeded the €5 trillion mark for the first time. At the end of January, asset reached a record €5050 billion according to figures published by the CSSF.

Dividends paid by European companies on an underlying basis have sunk by more than 28% in 2020 to €141 billion, according to the Janus Henderson Global Dividend Index. This is the lowest figure since 2009.

Capital Group, T.Rowe Price and iShares have been nominated as finalists for the Morningstar Awards for best asset manager across all asset classes in Luxembourg.

The nomination for iShares is a first: never before a passive fund house received a nomination for the Morningstar Award for best asset manager. iShares was also nominated for best fund house in the category fixed-income overall, in an apparent rebuke of active management. This shortlist is also all-American, with BlueBay and Capital Group being the other nominees.

The story behind an investment fund or asset manager is taking an increasingly important place in the selection process. Performance and price will always matter, but there is more to it than that these days,’ said Chris Chancellor of Broadridge this week at the cross-border distribution conference of Financial Times, Deloitte and Elvinger Hoss.

The European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) EBA, Eiopa and Esma have adjusted proposed requirements under the EU sustainable finance disclosure regulation (SFDR). This was done in order to prevent possible greenwashing by asset managers, according to Esma president Steven Maijoor (pictured).

The average European family office has invested 16% of their assets sustainably. This is much more than their counterparts in the rest of the world, according to a survey by Blackrock.

Thematic ETFs saw record inflows of €9.5 billion last year, as totale assets in the category almost tripled to €22.7 billion, according to Morningstar’s European Thematic Roundup 2020.