For those of us working in sustainability, the negative rhetoric of the past few months hasn’t been easy to ignore. Driven in large part by the changing political environment in the US, a whole spectrum of issues that had previously enjoyed near-unanimous consensus have become more divisive than we could possibly have imagined just a few years ago. This increasing…

A 73% majority of private equity fund investors have said moves pushing back against Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in the US could have a meaningful impact in Europe, according to Brackendale’s sixth private equity sentiment report: DEI: Progress, Policy or Pushback. The report explores the perspectives of European LPs on DEI and its long-term viability in European private markets,…

Fund rebranding activity accelerated in the first quarter of 2025, as the 21 May deadline for the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) greenwashing rule rapidly approaches, according to Morningstar’s latest report: SFDR Article 8 and Article 9 funds: Q1 2025 in Review. At least 262 Article 8 and Article 9 funds with ESG-related terms in their names rebranded in…

So, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has officially paused its plans for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) targets. While no one wants overly burdensome regulations, this move risks undermining DEI’s importance, reducing it to a trend that can be ignored. Worse, it perpetuates the myth that DEI is an overhead rather than an opportunity. A particular bugbear of mine is…

The investment industry has reacted with disappointment after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) indefinitely postponed plans to extend its Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) regime to model portfolio services (MPS). In February 2025, the FCA announced it would no longer publish a policy statement in Q2 2025 that would put MPS under the scope of SDR, saying it was aware that…