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🚨 Exciting news! MainStreet Partners released its 2024 ESG Barometer report, delving into ESG investing trends across 7700 funds & ETFs. 📊 Notable findings: a 20% year-over-year increase in Article 8 funds in 2023, yet 24% could be accused of greenwashing. 💡 At Integrity 2 ESG, LLC, our anti-greenwashing approach and SFDR certification offers third-party validation for investment funds to ensure alignment with SFDR and ESG regulatory requirements. Input from #ESGSavants Shiva Rajgopal Todd Cort Ian Conlon Owners Eileen Murray Andrew Rabinowitz Paul Roth joel press Partners Maples Group Fund Services Mark Weir Kieran Fox Declan McHugh Expert Advisors Marcel Herbst Joseph Naayem Brett Tucker, PMP, CSSBB, CISSP, CGRC Let’s navigate the sustainable path together - > https://integrity2esg.com/ MainStreet Partners ESG Barometer-> https://bit.ly/4bPYoC9 #SustainableInvesting #Integrity2ESG #SFDR #compliance #ESG #antigreenwashing #investmentfunds #assetmanagement

While the ESG landscape continues to evolve, appetite for ESG considerations may be decreasing. Not only is this a result of potentially impacted financial returns due to its consideration within board governance, but it’s also based on the term itself having controversy, politicization, and polarization associated with it. We are seeing many fund sponsors, institutional investors, and stakeholders are moving away from the term “ESG”, instead rebranding it with “sustainable investing” and “responsible investing”. In our bulletin, we discuss a few developments that may be contributing to the decline in the use of ESG (whether in term or in concept) by fund sponsors and institutional investors alike. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4evoBar #ESG #boardadvisory #advisory #boardgovernance #governance #financialservices #fundsponsor #institutionalinvestor #regulatory #duediligence Lauren Hulme | Keira McKee

It's time to discuss an under-commented on ESG issue: tracking error. We have clients with ESG fund investments, typically because they start from the premise that they want solutions that (broadly) match their belief systems.  The key word above is "broadly", because the ESG approach chosen by the manager is unlikely to match that of the client closely, but to be fair, it often incorporates additional practices that clients aren't opposed to. However, the direction of travel for many ESG strategies in recent years is only in one direction, and that is to do more.   The clearest example is an ever-expanding list of exclusions, which are not always the subject of prior consultation. Managers can help manage this disconnect with more extensive reporting to clients, including informal ESG-screened benchmarks, attribution analysis, and information about the components of their "active share" over time. All good stuff. But a reasonable question remains: at what point has the fund your client invested in changed so much it is no longer fit for their purposes? #ESG #investing # #benchmarking

"It’s increasingly difficult to market Article 6 funds" Are you looking at ways to increase your Article 8 and 9 funds? Smart ESG is designed to help you launch faster - and comes with transparent, robust reporting that meets regulatory requirements. We'd be delighted to tell you more, please get in touch at [email protected] #ESG #SFDR #responsibleinvesting

As mandatory #ESG reporting disclosures become more common, Private Equity fund managers will likewise have to evolve their ESG reporting framework. Read our 2023 Private Equity report to learn how the latest ESG regulations may affect your portfolio: https://okt.to/X6yYrS #ESGInvesting #SustainableInvesting #PrivateEquity #PEIndustryReport

In an insightful discussion with Financial News, Neill Blanks and Jacob Kasaska, Managing Director and Research Associate at MainStreet Partners, shared their thoughts on the upcoming #FCA ESG labels.    Despite the regulatory push to curb greenwashing, they anticipate few funds will adopt the labels due to stringent criteria and low investor demand. Neill notes, "I would be very surprised if it’s anywhere near 100 by July" while Jacob highlights the marketing challenges for unlabeled ESG funds.   Read more about the evolving ESG landscape and the potential impact on asset managers here ▶️ https://lnkd.in/dahEgasU #SDR #FCA #ESGLabels #ESG

ESG – rumours of its death are (mostly) exaggerated 🌱 Sentiment towards Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) is showing signs of cracks in recent months following years of positive outperformance. The market has become sceptical of the topic following recent fund outflows, accusations of greenwashing and companies citing it as uneconomic and unviable. This view that the costs outweigh the benefits of ESG is seen as detrimental to client returns… but it does not have to be. Join our team to hear more about the ESG landscape, why we believe a simple and pragmatic approach is best, and examples of engagement with investee companies. https://lnkd.in/ehcfx87C Stellar Asset Management #ESG #EstatePlanning #FinancialPlanning

Are ESG regulations stifling actual progress and becoming a cash cow industry for consultants? I was recently asked to comment on this for an article by Anna Devine at Ignites with Desiree Fixler and Adrian Whelan (He/Him). Don’t get me wrong, I know the regulations are hard work which take a lot of time to comply with. However I really can’t see a world where financial institutions would have committed to this level of resource and time investment into understanding and disclosing their sustainability efforts without being forced to. Yes this is going to be a short term burden but in the long run I am confident this will lead to a longer term, broader uplift of the sustainability credentials of investment and therefore increasing the level of real world positive impact. Without this I don’t see a world where we meet our targets. Please read the full article here and let me know your opinions 🌱

#ESG update from across the pond. More than two years after the EU began enforcing its Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (#SFDR), #AssetManagers have found it "increasingly difficult to market" non-ESG funds according to a new Goldman Sachs report. Since 2019, the top two most stringent ESG categories, Articles 8 and 9, have received 3.4x as much client flow as non-ESG funds, Article 6. https://lnkd.in/gUaRukQt European investors are also becoming more discerning, targeting Article 8 funds with the highest #Sustainability claims. #SustainableInvesting #ESGInvesting #SustaiableFinance

Guidelines on funds’ names using ESG or sustainability-related terms: European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a final report containing guidelines on funds’ names using ESG or sustainability-related terms to ensure that investors are protected against unsubstantiated or exaggerated sustainability claims in fund names, and to provide asset managers with clear and measurable criteria to assess their ability to use ESG or sustainability-related terms in fund names. 👉Read the full details here: https://lnkd.in/d7AExBrj     #SustainableFinance #ESG #Sustainability #ComplianceInstitute