This week, with all kids comfortably installed in their classrooms again, the Nordics are ready for the new school year. Between launches and new positions it was difficult to choose what to cover.
First we saw the appointment of Carina Silberg, already sustainability manager at Alecta since 2017, as Head of Corporate Governance and Sustainability, a new team within the firm’s asset management department. Also in Sweden, Handelsbanken announced that Catharina Belfrage Sahlstrand will take over as Head of Sustainability, replacing Camilla Johansson, who has been acting head of Sustainability since April 2019 after Elisabet Jamal Bergström, left for SEB. Stora Enso also announced that Annette Stube, previously at A.P. Moller–Maersk, will succeed the company’s current Head of Sustainability, Noel Morrin, who retires at the end of this year. Meanwhile, in Finland, Ilmarinen appointed Karoliina Lindroos (Pictured) as its new Head of Responsible Investment. Lindroos will start her new role at the Finnish mutual pension insurance company on August 31st.
In an attempt to assess the outlook for fossil fuel production, several organisations have come together to publish the Production Gap 2019 Report. The report, produced by a partnership between SEI, IISD, ODI, Climate Analytics, CICERO and the UNEP, finds that governments are planning to emit considerably more CO2 than planned.
As global efforts to stem the tide of global warming persevere, some asset managers have sought to do their share in bearing the responsibilities agreed to at the 2015 Paris Agreement. Storebrand Asset Management was the most recent such institution to do so as it unveiled a new wide-ranging climate policy outlining how it uses its investments to facilitate climate change mitigation and adaptation. In a quest to raise awareness, normalise ESG integration and highlight best practices of sustainable investing for the wealth management industry, three UK charities launched the “ESG investing Olympics”. The winner of the first awards event held last week, Cazenove – the wealth management arm of Schroders – was awarded a £33.5 million investment mandate by the organisers.
Aberdeen Standard Investments announced the launch of its new Asian Sustainable Development Equity Fund, which will invest in Asian companies aligned with the UN SDGs. Elsewhere, UBS launched a USD-Hedged share class for its ETF tracking euro-zone corporate bonds issued by firms with strong ESG credentials. We caught up with UBS‘s Florian Cisana, who told us that “the ETF has just surpassed the US$1 billion mark recently,” a significant milestone.
Green bond aficionados will appreciate that Riksgälden published the upcoming security’s investor presentation, this week, ahead of the launch of its inaugural sovereign green bond. Last but not least, Kommuninvest announced the launch of a new product to promote municipal investments in a socially sustainable society. The Swedish local government funding agency will unveil a pilot programme of the Social Sustainability Loans this autumn.
Photo by Federica Campanaro on Unsplash
