sustainability

Fund managers looking for sustainable investments can find themselves with incomplete non-financial data needed to make their decisions. At BLI - Banque de Luxembourg Investments, Annick Drui, manager of the 75 million euro BL Sustainable Horizon fund, explains how she is trying to strike the right balance.

For the moment, inflation is largely caused by a sharp increase in energy prices. Two years ago, the oil price was negative for a while, but since then it has been rising rapidly. Sustainability policy measures have contributed to this, because investment in new oil extraction has been under pressure in recent years not only because of the low oil price.

“It is not five minutes to twelve, but one minute to twelve,” said Detlef van Vuuren, one of the Dutch scientists who collaborated on the latest report by the UN climate agency, the IPCC. 

According to the report, presented on Monday, countries have to invest three to six times more than currently agreed in measures to reduce greenhouse gases. If that does not happen, the climate goals will be far out of reach. That is this week’s alarming message from the United Nations. 

Fund managers across Europe can opt for a label to certify their investment product does what it says it does. The Luxembourg Finance Labelling Agency, also known as Luxflag, has certified some 365 funds, mostly with an ESG label. Luxflag chair Denise Voss spoke to InvestmentOfficer.lu for a podcast.

“A label is about certifying or giving clarity to investors, that what they invest in, is what it says on the tin. We’re actually not saying you must invest in this or that,” said Voss. 

In the Luxembourg transfer market, Banque de Luxembourg Investments and JP Morgan Asset Management both announced that they have strengthened their sustainable investing teams. Consultancy EY meanwhile said it has created a new Luxembourg team dedicated to the public sector.

Roland Rott and Soňa Stadtelmeyer-Petru (pictured) have joined JP Morgan’s sustainable investing team. Both hires will report to JPM’s Global Head of Sustainable Investing, Jennifer Wu.

The financial sector needs to pay more attention to human rights in its activities, especially in its supply chains, a Luxembourg NGO said in a report it presented this week. Industry representatives said the criticism does not yet fully consider new legal requirements that recently entered into force.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management is stepping up its use of artificial intelligence in order to identify companies that provide solutions in the fight against climate change and loss of biodiversity. The US asset manager wants to use AI to find between 50 and 100 companies in which investors can invest through its climate solutions fund.

European mutual funds that promote green investments saw assets increase by some 22 percent in the fourth quarter, to more than 4,000 billion euro, and will overtake traditional ‘grey’ assets in terms of asset volume no later than the summer of 2022, Morningstar said in a research report on the effects of the SFDR sustainability regulation introduced last year.

Every year there are surprises at the trade fair, although there seem to have been more in 2021. A surprise is something that the vast majority did not expect. That is the reason why surprises can set a stock market in motion. When almost everyone is convinced of something, it is discounted in the stock prices. These were the biggest surprises of 2021.

Following the integration of private banking into its banking activities in 2019, Triodos is now focusing on the next step: the introduction of an accessible service model for the different groups of investors.