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Sustainable Investment Funds Related Events: October 2019

Events Summary 22 events were identified in October 2019, classified as follows: • 17 events involved the launch of new funds or the adoption of sustainable investing strategies in the US and overseas. –Seven US fund firms and a combined total of 10 Canadian, European and Asian fund firms were affected. • Three firms reflected […]

Sustainable Investing Funds Related Events: July 2019

Events Summary 20 sustainable investing funds related events were identified in July 2019*, classified as follows: • 9 events involved new funds or strategies, including offerings in the US and overseas. • 4 events cover new analytical, research tools or indices. • 3 are related to merger and acquisition (M&A) activities. • 2 events involved […]

Sustainable Investing Events: June 2019

Events Summary 17 events were identified in June 2019, classified as follows: 9 events involved new funds, including five new ETFs being launched in the US and Europe. Of 15 non-ETF funds, 9 were launched in the US and Canada, 5 were launched in Europe, and one in Singapore. 4 are linked to changes in […]

Sustainable Investing Events: May 2019

Events Summary 15 events were identified in May 2019, classified as follows: 10 involved new funds, including three new ETFs. Of these, five were launched in Europe, four in the US and one in Australia. 2 involved organizational changes or announcements. 2 involved investment strategy announcements. 1 involved the introduction of a new investment tool. […]

Sustainable Investing Events: April 2019

Events Summary 20 events were identified in April 2019, classified as follows: • 6 involved changes to investment strategies • 6 involved new fund or investment vehicle formations • 2 involved index formations or launches • 2 involved organizational changes or announcements • 2 involved mergers and acquisitions • 2 involved new ETF launches Refer […]

Sustainable Investing Due Diligence Updates-October 2017

BlackRock’s head of global stewardship leaves position. Date: Oct. 30, 2017                                                                        Alert:  MODERATE** Briefing Points – i) Zack Oleksik, who lead […]

Sustainable Fund and Manager Due Diligence

Introduction The growing traction of sustainable investing and sustainable investment funds[i] has brought with it increased attention to how these products are managed.  For fiduciaries, institutions and financial intermediaries as well as, robo-advisors and other platform “gatekeepers,” this has introduced a range of new due diligence questions.  These questions address what should be considered when […]

Sustainable Investing Alerts: January 15, 2019

Sustainable Investing Alerts Coverage: Nordea’s new fund, Sustainalytics GES acquisition, Eagle introduces new ESG strategy, Fitch launches ESG Relevance Scores, and Mirova’s new international ESG fund. January 10, 2019 DUE DILIGENCE Alert:  LOW COMPETITIVE Alert:  1 Event:  Nordea adds fund to its SICAV STAR equity suite. Briefing Points:  i) Nordea’s new SICAV mutual fund applies […]

Research

Research and analysis to keep sustainable investors up to-date on a broad range of topics that include trends and developments in sustainable investing and sustainable finance, regulatory updates, performance results and considerations, investing through index funds and actively managed portfolios, asset allocation updates, expenses, ESG ratings and data, company and product news, green, social and sustainable bonds, green bond funds as well as reporting and disclosure practices, to name just a few.

A continuously updated Funds Directory is also available to investors.  This is intended to become a comprehensive listing of sustainable mutual funds, ETFs and other investment products along with a description of their sustainable investing approaches as set out in fund prospectuses and related regulatory filings.

Getting started

Many questions have surfaced in recent years regarding sustainable and ESG investing.  Here, investors and financial intermediaries will find materials that describe the various approaches to sustainable investing and their implementation.  While sustainable investing approaches vary and they have thus far defied universally accepted definitions, many practitioners agree that they fall into the following broad categories:  Values-based investing, investing via exclusions, impact investing, thematic investments and ESG integration.  In conjunction with each of these approaches, investors may also adopt various issuer engagement procedures and proxy voting practices.  That said, sustainable investing approaches will continue to evolve.

In addition to periodic updates regarding sustainable investing and how this form of investing is evolving, investors and financial intermediaries interested in implementing a sustainable investing approach will also find source materials that cover basic investing themes as well as asset allocation tactics.

Inesting ideas

Thoughts and ideas targeting sustainable investing strategies executed through various registered and non-registered sustainable investment funds and products such as mutual funds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), closed-end funds, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Unit Investment Trusts (UITs). Coverage extends to investment management firms as well as fund groups. 

Independent source for sustainable investment management company research, analysis, opinions and sustainable fund disclosure assessments