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    The Week in Green – August 10th Edition

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    Fund Launches & Organised Research

    This week, activity picked up ever so slightly and BlackRock announced the launch of a series of ESG Emerging Market Debt funds. In Sweden, Pacific Multi Assets, a Stockholm-based multi-strategy hedge fund, launched ”Green World”, a new strategy which aims to invest in sustainable companies that are expected to have a profound impact on making the world a better place.

    It was time for us to have a closer look at the green bond market again and we found two reports by Moody’s and SEB which paint a somewhat muted picture of the market for the second half of the year, despite a strong second quarter. In an earlier analysis from HSBC, we find that the EU’s regulatory activities may not only have a positive effect on the market.

    - Partner Message -

    We were also busy this week, completing our research collection and organising it along different sustainable investment themes. In our freshly re-designed library, you will find the latest research from leading data and index providers as well as asset management firms, all classified by themes, geographies and asset classes. We hope that this additional resource on Nordsip will help you find what you need to adopt SRI practices and push the integration further. Please let us know if you have something interesting to add to our collection!

    Heard on E-Street

    An important milestone was reached this week, as the European Commission asked the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the EU supervisory authority for the insurance and occupational pension fund sector (EIOPA) for technical advice on potential amendments to EU rules to require the integration of sustainability risks in investment decision-making (IPE).

    Again on the regulatory side, Paul Tang the “rapporteur” for the committee on economic and monetary affairs (ECON) proposes that pension funds should have to carry out “due diligence” in relation to ESG factors, in line with recommendations set out under the OECD’s “guidelines for multinational enterprises” (IPE).

    Meanwhile, people continue to move with Morgan Stanley‘s head of technology equity research Francois Meunier recruited by Lombard Odier Investment Managers to head a “Sustainability Revolution” (funds europe).

    Elsewhere, more alarm bells ring as heat waves hit new records. Scientists discovered new climate change precedents that suggest this summer’s temperatures could become the new normal (the Atlantic). In parallel, public concern is picking up. A poll last year of 38 countries found that 61% of people see climate change as a big threat; only the terrorists of Islamic State inspired more fear (the Economist).

    Famous Last Words

    “Averting climate change will come at a short-term financial cost—although the shift from carbon may eventually enrich the economy, as the move to carbon-burning cars, lorries and electricity did in the 20th century. Politicians have an essential role to play in making the case for reform and in ensuring that the most vulnerable do not bear the brunt of the change. Perhaps global warming will help them fire up the collective will. Sadly, the world looks poised to get a lot hotter first.” (The Economist).

    Enjoy the last rays of sun,

    Your NordSIP team

    Picture © Shutterstock

    Aline Reichenberg Gustafsson, CFA
    Aline Reichenberg Gustafsson, CFA
    Aline Reichenberg Gustafsson, CFA is Editor-in-Chief for NordSIP and Managing Director for Big Green Tree Media. She has 18 years of experience in the asset management industry in Stockholm, London and Geneva, including as a long/short equity hedge fund portfolio manager, and buy-side analyst, but also as CFO and COO in several asset management firms. Aline holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a License in Economic Sciences from the University of Geneva.

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