Funding for climate tech start-ups by venture capital funds is at its slowest pace in nearly three years, in a worrying sign for the sector. In the first quarter of 2023, climate tech start-ups raised $5.7bn across 279 venture capital deals, according to data from PitchBook, which monitors the venture capital market. This is down … Read more
EQ Investors, Castlefield Investment Partners and Legal & General Investment Management are among 26 investors responsible for just over $3trn of assets who have written to Nestlé ahead of its AGM in Switzerland today calling on it to commit to setting targets to improve its impact on population health. In a statement coordinated by responsible … Read more
Negative screening has been a longstanding constant of sustainable investing, with most strategies employing some form of exclusionary objectives. But are investors better off owning, influencing and engaging with these companies to help steer the ship? Nearly any modern ESG fund will avoid alcohol, tobacco and gun manufacturing companies as the target market’s values preclude … Read more
Eight months ago US president Joe Biden signed into law the biggest government investment in clean energy, giving sustainable investors much-longed for certainty. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is tipped to spark nearly $3trn of investment in renewable energy technology, yet that vote of confidence has not had the expected ripple effect. The WilderHill Clean … Read more
In the wake of the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Jacqueline Taiwo began receiving a lot of questions from fellow members of the investment industry about what they could do and how they could help. Having just set up the Black Women in Asset Management (BWAM) network a year previously, she decided to write … Read more
Pictet Asset Management (Pictet AM) has announced the launch of Pictet-China Environmental Opportunities, a concentrated active equity fund investing in leading Chinese environmental solutions providers. Pictet-China Environmental Opportunities seeks capital growth by investing in Chinese companies operating in five environmental segments: renewable energy, green transportation, industrial decarbonisation, resource efficiency and environmental protection. Classified as Article … Read more
Amundi has launched a suite of funds across asset classes that aim to support the transition to net zero by 2050. The European asset manager said that although all its strategies are aiming to reduce their portfolios’ carbon intensity by 30% by 2025 and 60% by 2030 compared with 2019, it has decided to launch … Read more
Proposals in a consultation from the European Supervisory Authorities could have a “disruptive impact on the asset management industry” that leads to the reclassification of Article 8 and 9 funds. The ESA’s consultation is proposing significant changes to the sustainable finance disclosure regulation (SFDR) regulatory technical standards (RTS). Changes that will likely have a considerable … Read more
Gresham House has hired an investor director to identify energy storage opportunities for the alternative asset manager’s new energy division. Lefteris Strakosias will report to managing director and head of new energy Ben Guest and focus particularly on the firm’s flagship energy storage strategy, the Gresham House Energy Storage Fund. Strakosias brings more than 15 … Read more
Invesco has expanded its ETF offering with the launch of four global ESG tracker funds amid increased investor demand for sector-specific offerings. The strategies will track the performance of global sectors within the S&P Developed Ex-Korea Large Mid Cap ESG Enhanced Sector indices and are classified as Article 8 under the European Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation. … Read more