ESG Investing: Practices, Progress and Challenges
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Artisan Thematic Strategy
Q2 2020 Artisan Thematic Strategy This material is intended to provide an overview of the Thematic team's investment philosophy and process. Investment in any vehicle managed by the team is subject to further documentation contained in the vehicle's offering materials. This material is not for use by retail investors and may not be reproduced or distributed without Artisan Partners' permission. This material does not constitute an offer or solicitation where such actions are not authorized or lawful. Further limitations on the availability of products or services described herein may be imposed. This material is only intended for investors which meet qualifications as institutional investors as defined in the applicable jurisdiction where this material is received, which includes only Professional Clients or Eligible Counterparties as defined by the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) where this material is issued by APUK or AP Europe. This material is not for use by retail or professional clients and may not be reproduced or distributed without Artisan Partners’ permission. For US institutional investors and MiFID Eligible Counterparties Only—Not for Onward Distribution GIPS Composite Report included in appendix Artisan Partners Important Disclosures These materials are provided solely for use in a private meeting and are intended for informational and discussion purposes only. Investment is subject to further documentation. This document is not a prospectus. Unless expressly stated, it has not otherwise been registered with, or approved by, any regulatory authority in any jurisdiction. This material is for informational purposes only and shall not be construed as investment or tax advice. Prospective investors should consult their financial and tax adviser before making investments in order to determine whether investment will be suitable for them. -
Making Sense of ESG, SRI and Impact Investing INSIGHTS
Investing with Purpose: Making Sense of ESG, SRI and Impact Investing INSIGHTS Many investors want to bring their portfolios into alignment with their personal values, but don’t know where to start. This Insights outlines the three most common approaches. CARIN L. PAI, CFA® A growing awareness of environmental which companies are making the Executive Vice President, and social issues, along with the most progress in this area, investors Head of Portfolio Management availability of data on corporate can find a comfortable place on responsibility, is changing the way the spectrum between doing well individuals think about investing. financially and doing good things for Increasingly, investors are bringing their the world. portfolios into alignment with their MICHAEL FIRESTONE personal values. Three Common Approaches Managing Director, to Responsible Investing Portfolio Manager There are many different approaches to “responsible investing” and they go Responsible investing means different by different names—including ethical, things to different people, and there is sustainable and green investing. But a broad spectrum of approaches. But they all have one thing in common: the most commonly used techniques They pursue financial rewards while are ESG, SRI and Impact Investing. The approach investors take depends NATALIA LAZAR-GALOIU encouraging positive changes in Senior Investment the world. largely on their personal preferences Associate and which part of the spectrum they Doing Well Financially While find most appropriate—depending on Doing Good Socially how heavily they want to lean toward achieving financial goals versus Traditionally, investment decisions have promoting social causes. been aimed at achieving financial goals, using research on economic trends Environmental, Social, and analyzing a company’s balance Governance (ESG) sheet. -
Investment Edge® Variable Annuity
Investment Edge® Variable Annuity May 1, 2017 Variable Annuities: • Are Not a Deposit of Any Bank • Are Not FDIC Insured • Are Not Insured by Any Federal Government Agency • Are Not Guaranteed by Any Bank or Savings Association • May Go Down in Value Issued by AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company. Table of Contents Variable Product Prospectus Page Investment Edge® 15.0 1 Summary Prospectuses Page Label Page Label AXA Premier VIP Trust EQ/PIMCO Global Real Return EQPGRR 1-5 AXA Aggressive Allocation AAA 1-5 EQ/PIMCO Ultra Short Bond EQPUS 1-5 AXA Moderate Allocation AMA 1-5 EQ/Small Company Index EQSCI 1-3 AXA Moderate-Plus Allocation AMPA 1-5 EQ/T. Rowe Price Growth Stock EQTGS 1-4 CharterSM Aggressive Growth CAGR 1-6 Multimanager Technology MMT 1-5 CharterSM Conservative CCON 1-6 CharterSM Growth CGR 1-6 CharterSM Moderate CMOD 1-6 CharterSM Moderate Growth CMGR 1-6 CharterSM Small Cap Growth CSCG 1-5 CharterSM Small Cap Value CSCV 1-5 EQ Advisors Trust 1290 VT Convertible Securities VTCS 1-5 1290 VT DoubleLine Opportunistic Bond VTDO 1-6 1290 VT Energy VTE 1-5 1290 VT Equity Income VTEI 1-4 1290 VT GAMCO Mergers & Acquisitions VTGM 1-5 1290 VT GAMCO Small Company Value VTGSC 1-3 1290 VT High Yield Bond VTHY 1-6 1290 VT Low Volatility Global Equity VTLG 1-4 1290 VT Natural Resources VTNR 1-4 1290 VT Real Estate VTRE 1-5 1290 VT SmartBeta Equity VTSB 1-4 1290 VT Socially Responsible VTSR 1-5 All Asset Growth-Alt 20 EQAA 1-7 AXA/AB Dynamic Moderate Growth AABDMG 1-7 AXA/AB Short Duration Government Bond AABSDGB 1-5 AXA/AB Small Cap Growth -
Finding the Opportunity In
Finding the ESG disclosures: the bedrock of the opportunity sustainable finance agenda in ESG Executive summary To be successful, the development of sustainable finance in Europe needs to be grounded in access to high quality and meaningful ESG disclosures. While the quality and reliability of ESG data has improved considerably, so has the sophistication of investors and their needs for improved ESG disclosure. Investors find the most value in ESG disclosures when sustainability is embedded in the DNA of the firm as part of their competitive advantage to create long-term value. Companies that create societal value should benefit from changing policy and consumer trends, resulting in more sustainable cash flows, a lower cost of capital and higher valuations. While no standardised reporting framework can ever fully capture and reflect this. Reporting standards should, however, ensure that we move away from boilerplate disclosures and box-ticking approaches to consider the ESG risks and opportunities that are material to each company, industry and sector. While numerous standards already exist in this space, no single regulatory standard provides a comprehensive framework for companies to disclose in a way that would meet investors’ needs. Greater convergence in reporting could fill the gaps in accessing core ESG metrics that investors rely on to develop their ESG screening tools and assessment methodologies. Convergence in ESG reporting standards would also enable such data to be audited, which is becoming increasingly important to investors who base capital allocation decisions on such information. Beyond these core metrics, we need to connect ESG disclosures with real world outcomes, both adverse impacts as well as opportunities for transition. -
Performance Measurement in Finance : Firms, Funds and Managers
PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT IN FINANCE Butterworth-Heinemann Finance aims and objectives • books based on the work of financial market practitioners and academics • presenting cutting edge research to the professional/practitioner market • combining intellectual rigour and practical application • covering the interaction between mathematical theory and financial practice • to improve portfolio performance, risk management and trading book performance • covering quantitative techniques market Brokers/Traders; Actuaries; Consultants; Asset Managers; Fund Managers; Regulators; Central Bankers; Treasury Officials; Technical Analysts; and Academics for Masters in Finance and MBA market. series titles Return Distributions in Finance Derivative Instruments: theory, valuation, analysis Managing Downside Risk in Financial Markets: theory, practice and implementation Economics for Financial Markets Global Tactical Asset Allocation: theory and practice Performance Measurement in Finance: firms, funds and managers Real R&D Options series editor Dr Stephen Satchell Dr Satchell is Reader in Financial Econometrics at Trinity College, Cambridge; Visiting Professor at Birkbeck College, City University Business School and University of Technology, Sydney. He also works in a consultative capacity to many firms, and edits the journal Derivatives: use, trading and regulations. PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT IN FINANCE Firms, Funds and Managers Edited by John Knight Stephen Satchell OXFORD AMSTERDAM BOSTON LONDON NEW YORK PARIS SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SINGAPORE SYDNEY TOKYO -
Impact Investing Primer
IMPACT INVESTING PRIMER I. What is Impact Investing? II. The Veris Perspective III. Have We Reached a Tipping Point? IV. How to Approach Impact in Public Equity and Fixed Income Investments V. How to Measure Impact VI. Impact Financial Performance Across Asset Classes VII. How to Conceptualize Impact Investing in Your Portfolio VIII. Impact Investing Across All Asset Classes IX. Impact & Mission‐Related Investing Terms X. Other Impact Investing Resources XI. Additional Resources I. What is Impact Investing? Impact Investing utilizes capital markets to address global challenges. Every investment has impact, whether intended or unintended. Impact investors, however, specifically seek out investments whose environmental and social outcomes are positive and definable. As Impact Investing becomes more mainstream, there are increasingly more opportunities to invest with impact. Impact investments are already available in both public and private markets and across all asset classes—including hard assets such as real estate, timber, and agriculture. Impact investments provide capital to innovative private companies providing solutions to global sustainability issues such as climate change, accessible education, and energy and food security. They also support public and private companies with responsible and sustainable business practices. Additionally, impact investments promote community wealth building by creating jobs in low‐income communities; helping in affordable housing initiatives and neighborhood revitalization; making loans to small businesses, and raising funds for vital community services. Impact Investing, whether private or public, stocks or bonds, requires professional management of social, environmental, and financial performance. The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), a non‐profit organization dedicated to increasing the scale and effectiveness of Impact Investing, defines it as “investments made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. -
Impact Investing Whitepaper
Impact Investing Whitepaper In partnership with Clear and Independent Institutional Investment Contents Analysis We provide institutional investors, including pension funds, 03 Introduction insurance companies and consultants, with data and analysis to assess, research and report on their investments. We are 04 Impact Investing Roundtable committed to fostering and nurturing strong, productive Welcome to CAMRADATA’s Impact Investing relationships across the institutional investment sector and are 09 Roundtable Participants Whitepaper continually innovating new solutions to meet the industry’s complex needs. 15 Arisaig Partners: Capturing The Rise Of Emerging Markets We enable institutional investors, including pension funds, Climate change is increasingly at the forefront of the global agenda, with a key focus insurance companies and consultants, to conduct rigorous, 18 Mackenzie Investments: To maximize on a ‘just’ transition to a net zero economy. Impact investing is set to play a crucial evidence-based assessments of more than 5,000 investment your energy transition exposure, think role if targets are to be met. products offered by over 700 asset managers. thematic Impact investors are vital in allocating capital in order to address the abundance of Additionally, our software solutions enable insurance 23 M&G Investments: Targeting solutions social and environmental issues facing the planet. companies to produce consistent accounting, regulatory and for the planet through impact Even as governments and corporations alike are ramping up their climate audit-ready reports. investing commitments, there is much work to be done. Time is running out for climate and social goals to be met. According to a recent To discuss your requirements study by the Rainforest Action Network, in the five years since the Paris Agreement, +44 (0)20 3327 5600 the world’s biggest banks – including the likes of BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, and [email protected] JP Morgan – have financed fossil fuels to the tune of $3.8 trillion (€3.2 trillion). -
Private Funds Report 2020 Year in Review and a Look Ahead
PRIVATE FUNDS REPORT 2020 YEAR IN REVIEW AND A LOOK AHEAD VOLUME 1 A NEW PRIVATE FUNDS RESOURCE IN THIS ISSUE WELCOME TO THE FIRST EDITION OF PRIVATE FUNDS n INTRODUCTION 1 REPORT, a new collection of insights that we plan to publish intermittently throughout the year to supple- n FUNDRAISING 2 ment the content we produce already. We hope you’ll find n REGULATORY 7 our articles easily accessible, conversational and to the n SEC ENFORCEMENT 8 point—our goal is to provide topical perspective without burdening you with excess detail that could obscure the n DEPARTMENT OF LABOR key issues on which you might want to focus initially. We RULEMAKING 9 would welcome your feedback on this new resource. n LIBOR TRANSITION FOR THE BUY SIDE 11 2020 was a year dominated by the COVID-19 pan- n SECONDARIES 13 demic (please refer to our Coronavirus Resource Center for further information). The public markets roller-coastered n CREDIT FUNDS 14 up and down, and M&A activity dramatically slowed in n ESG INVESTING 16 the early part of 2020, bouncing back in earnest in the second half of the year. Likewise, fundraising was slow during the second quarter of 2020, but rebounded to a large extent later in the year, with funds ultimately raising similar amounts of capital as they did in 2019, but with a smaller number of large funds stealing the limelight. To supplement the information in this report, we have provided links to other content we have produced on Private Funds Report opens with a more detailed look at these topics, including articles, focused reports and pod- 2020 fundraising trends. -
Integrated Reporting and Investor Clientele
Integrated Reporting and Investor Clientele The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Serafeim, George. "Integrated Reporting and Investor Clientele." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 14-069, February 2014. (Revised April 2014.) Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:12111355 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Open Access Policy Articles, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#OAP Integrated Reporting and Investor Clientele George Serafeim Working Paper 14-069 April 4, 2014 Copyright © 2014 by George Serafeim Working papers are in draft form. This working paper is distributed for purposes of comment and discussion only. It may not be reproduced without permission of the copyright holder. Copies of working papers are available from the author. Integrated Reporting and Investor Clientele George Serafeim Harvard Business School Abstract In this paper, I examine the relation between Integrated Reporting (IR) and the composition of a firm’s investor base. I hypothesize and find that firms that practice IR have a more long-term oriented investor base with more dedicated and fewer transient investors. This result is more pronounced for firms with high growth opportunities, not controlled by a family, operating in ‘sin’ industries, and exhibiting more stable IR practice over time. I find that the results are robust to the inclusion of firm fixed effects, controls for the quantity of sustainability disclosure, and alternative ways of measuring IR. -
Implementing Integrated Reporting
Implementing Integrated Reporting PwC’s practical guide for A new business language PwC | Implementing Integrated Reporting | 1 Despite an increase in the volume and frequency of The imperative to build a long-term business model that information made available by companies, access to takes cognisance of the impacts, risks and opportunities in “more data for public equity investors has not necessarily “relation to the environmental, social and economic contexts translated into more comprehensive insight into within which an organisation operates, is increasingly companies. Integrated reporting addresses this problem becoming part of the licence to operate for companies the by encouraging companies to integrate both their world over. Investors also progressively recognise that they financial and ESG performance into one report that can no longer ignore these elements when performing includes only the most salient or material metrics. fundamental analysis, and evidence is mounting that Al Gore and David Blood companies who integrate broader sustainability A Manifesto for Sustainable Capitalisma considerations into their value proposition, clearly position themselves for better performance in the longer term. JSE (Johannesburg Stock Exchange) maintains a ‘report-or- explain basis’ when dealing with integrated reporting. JSE Johannesburg Stock Exchanged Financial capital is disproportionate in the way in which a Corporate reporting is of the utmost importance to company is valued. Social and environmental impacts investors. Long-term investors are already well known to “are not recognised to the extent they need to be in “look beyond the financial facts and figures only. investment and capital allocation decisions. Integrated Integrated reporting is a logical and necessary next step Reporting is also about giving credit where credit is due. -
A Guide to Understanding the Complex Universe of Private Debt Assets
Alternative credit and its asset classes A guide to understanding the complex universe of private debt assets First edition, May 2017 For professionals Important disclosure: The opinions expressed and conclusions reached by the authors in this publication are their own and do not represent an official position. The publication has been prepared solely for the purpose of information and knowledge-sharing. Neither NN Investment Partners B.V., NN Investment Partners Holdings N.V. nor any other company or unit belonging to NN Group make no guarantee, warranty or representation, express or implied, to the accuracy, correctness or completeness thereof. Readers should obtain professional advice before making any decision or taking any action that may affect their finances or business or tax position. This publication and its elements may contain information obtained from third parties, including ratings from credit rating agencies. Reproduction and distribution of (parts of) this publication, logos, and third party content in any form is prohibited, except with the prior written permission of NN Investment Partners B.V. or NN Investment Partners Holdings N.V. or the third party concerned. © 2017 NN Investment Partners is part of NN Group N.V. NN Group N.V. is a publicly traded corporation, and it and its subsidiaries are currently using trademarks including the “NN” name and associated trademarks of NN Group under license. All rights reserved. Alternative credit and its asset classes A guide to understanding the complex universe of private debt assets Table of contents Preface ...............................................................................................................................................................6 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 8 2. The history and rise of alternative credit .....................................................................11 2.1. -
Doing Well by Doing Good UBS Portfolio Management Sustainable Investing
UBS Swiss Financial Advisers For marketing purposes Doing well by doing good UBS Portfolio Management Sustainable Investing Investment Objective The UBS Portfolio Management Sustainable Investing (UBS-PM SI) is a managed discretionary program which provides exposure to sustainable investment opportunities by investing in equites, bonds and liquidity mainly through mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs). Flexible adherence to the principles of environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing is fundamental. The UBS commitment UBS is committed to creating long-term positive impact for our clients, employees, investors and society. We aim to be: – a leader in sustainable investing (SI) for private and institutional clients – a recognized innovator and thought leader in philanthropy – an industry leader in sustainability. What portfolios are available with UBS-SFA? Portfolios are available in different ranges of investment risk What’s in it for you? categories, which will be the foundation for your strategic – Make a positive impact on the environment and society asset allocation plan (see page 2). Each available portfolio while achieving similar returns to traditional investments. is designed to approximate a specific range of risk and return – Benefit from UBS insights and investment expertise expectations, while allowing the portfolio managers flexibility including over 15 years of experience in Sustainable to pursue investment opportunities through tactical shifts. Investing. UBS has more than 200 investment analysts, including the team of dedicated sustainable investing practitioners. Key facts – Alignment with integrated ESG practices. A dedicated Launch date September 1, 2020 100% sustainable investing approach that makes the best of our global expertise, and works with leading Reference currency USD institutions and ESG investment managers.