The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) announced the release of new exposure drafts containing proposed sustainability reporting standards for small and medium enterprises, marking the next step in the establishment of a new sustainability reporting system in Europe under the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The CSRD is aimed as a major update to the 2014 Non-Financial Reporting…
Morgan Stanley Investment Management has launched three actively-managed Article 8 funds. The new strategies – MS INVF Calvert Global Equity Fund, the MS INVF Calvert Global High Yield Bond Fund and the MS INVF Calvert US Equity Fund – all consider ESG factors as part of their investment processes. The strategies will be run by Calvert Research and Management, a…
London-based TwentyFour Asset Management, a fixed income boutique affiliated with Vontobel, has upgraded one of its funds to Article 9 under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). The Luxembourg SICAV fund – Vontobel Fund – TwentyFour Sustainable Short Term Bond Income – will transition from Article 8 to Article 9 effective from 26 January 2024, aiming to invest in…
HSBC announced today the launch of its first Net Zero Transition Plan, outlining the global bank’s strategy to finance and support the transition to net zero, and to meet the climate goals it has set over the past few years. The launch of the plan follows HSBC’s initial 2050 net zero target, set by the bank in 2020, which included…
ESG funds that invest in regimes linked to conflict are at of risk compromising sustainability standards and promises to clients, according to sustainable investment professionals. However, data shows European and UK sustainable funds hold almost £5bn in defence and aerospace companies. As conflicts rage on in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, Pacific Asset Management’s chief sustainability officer said countries…
COP28 started mired in controversy and ended with a ground-breaking agreement to gradually phase out fossil fuels and move the world into a new era of decarbonisation. A month on from the close of this critical UNFCCC summit, the question remains – how are we going to make the necessary transition? The transition is not going to be easy, and…
Legal action could prompt banks to strengthen climate action or face reputational risk, according to Morningstar DBRS. This comes in the wake of Milieudefensie, the Dutch branch of climate-oriented NGO Friends of the Earth, announcing plans to take Dutch banking group ING to court over its funding of fossil fuel developments. Milieudefensie’s case argues that ING, through its exposures, has…
EV charging platform Monta has announced today that it has raised €80 million (USD $87 million) at the close of a Series B funding round, with proceeds aimed at supporting the acceleration of the electrification of mobility through the deployment of charging infrastructure. Founded in 2020 by Co-founders Casper Rasmussen & Anders Pedersen, Denmark-based Monta provides an integrated software platform…