ESG

Impact investing is set to grow exponentially in Aotearoa New Zealand over coming years with strong interest from all types of investors including those not yet active in the field, according to a landmark study launched today. 99 investors – accounting for more than $83.5 billion of New Zealand’s assets under management – participated in New Zealand’s inaugural impact investment survey conducted by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) in partnership with The University of Auckland. Respondents included investors already active in impact investing as well as those not yet active in the field, and comprised investment managers, impact investment fund managers, trusts, foundations, not for profit organisations, individuals, family offices and diversified financial institutions. Impact Investor Insights Aotearoa New Zealand 2019, sponsored by AMP Capital, reveals that investors anticipate allocating a total of $5.9 billion to impact investing in the medium term. This would represent a six-fold increase in the capital currently deployed in impact investments, with $889 million of respondents’ capital currently earmarked as impact investments. Impact investing is set to grow exponentially in Aotearoa New Zealand over coming years with strong interest from all types of investors including those not yet active in the field, according to a landmark study launched today. 99 investors – accounting for more than $83.5 billion of New Zealand’s assets under management – participated in New Zealand’s inaugural impact investment survey conducted by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) in partnership with The University of Auckland. Respondents included investors already active in impact investing as well as those not yet active in the field, and comprised investment managers, impact investment fund managers, trusts, foundations, not for profit organisations, individuals, family offices and diversified financial institutions. Impact Investor Insights Aotearoa New Zealand 2019, sponsored by AMP Capital, reveals that investors anticipate allocating a total of $5.9 billion to impact investing in the medium term. This would represent a six-fold increase in the capital currently deployed in impact investments, with $889 million of respondents’ capital currently earmarked as impact investments. “This Report makes an important contribution to understanding how the demand for impact investing is shaping in New Zealand. It provides new insights into investors’ awareness and interest in impact investing, as well as the future prospects and challenges facing the growing field,” said Simon O’Connor, RIAA CEO.

was fortunate to spend last week in Paris, with 1700 others at the annual PRI in Person, the largest ever global conference of responsible investors. It was a week full of rich content, which allowed a global sharing of latest practices, regulatory developments and a strong focus on what kind of role the finance sector will play in confronting the great challenges of our time, not least, climate change.

The Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) is announcing a suite of changes to its Certification Program, which reflect the rapidly maturing responsible investment (RI) market and a global focus on best practice. These changes strengthen the program, tighten the standards and provide better information to consumers and their advisers.

5 September 2019: ASFI: EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Briefing On 5 September, the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative hosted a webinar discussion with Nathan Fabian, Chief Responsible Investment Officer at the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment, who provided an update on the EU taxonomy for sustainable activities.

Responsible investing has emerged as a fundamental practice for New Zealand’s funds managers, and now accounts for more than 70 percent of total assets under management (AUM), according to the latest Benchmark Report issued by the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia (RIAA). The fifth annual NZ RIAA Benchmark Report, released today by RIAA Chief Executive Simon O’Connor, shows a deepening commitment and more diverse range of offerings by asset managers, confirming responsible investing is now the bedrock of good investing. With data compiled by KPMG, the Report shows the sector grew three percent to reach $NZ188 billion in 2018. This represents a threefold increase on the NZ$58 billion invested in responsible funds only five years ago, at the end of 2013. Assets managed in accordance with responsible environmental, social and governance (ESG)_ principles now represent 72 percent of New Zealand’s total NZ$261.4 billion in AUM. By comparison, responsible investment funds in Australia represent just 44% of total AUM, according to RIAA’s latest Australian Benchmark Report released last week. “Over the last year, we’ve seen responsible investment practices continue to mature as the focus shifts beyond avoiding investing in the most harmful industries, to seeking out investments that contribute positively to New Zealand communities and the planet, alongside delivering better financial outcomes,” Mr O’Connor said.

Responsible investment funds are continuing to outperform most mainstream Australian and international funds, according to the latest Benchmark Report issued by the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia (RIAA). With data compiled by KPMG, the 18th annual RIAA Benchmark Report highlights that investors in responsible funds are reaping financial rewards with higher than average returns across one, five and 10 year horizons. “The findings of our report refute any misconception that investing responsibly comes at a cost in terms of performance, and contributes to the mounting body of evidence showing that responsible and ethical investing leads to better investment outcomes, alongside benefiting people and the planet,” said RIAA Chief Executive Simon O’Connor. Australia’s responsible investment (RI) market continued to grow in 2018, with $980 billion in assets under management, a rise of 13% on the previous year.

Blended finance is an innovative approach for structuring an investment to mobilise greater amounts of capital towards impact. It is a strategy that combines capital with different levels of risk in order to ‘catalyse’ risk adjusted, market-rate-seeking capital into impact investments.

In November 2018 RIAA commenced an extensive review of our RI Certification Program. The following provides an overview of the new criteria and the most immediate timeline of events that will affect your certified products.

The Australasian region is leading globally in the uptake of responsible investing, with 63% of total assets under management in Australia and New Zealand using a responsible investment approach. The Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA) has released its biennial Global Sustainable Investment Review 2018, showing that global responsible investment assets reached US$30.7 trillion at the start of 2018, a 34% increase from 2016. In its fourth edition, the biennial Global Sustainable Investment Review brings together the results from regional market studies by the responsible investment forums of Europe, the US, Japan, Canada, Australia & New Zealand. It also includes data on the African responsible investing market and highlights from several countries in North, Central and South America. “It is pleasing to see the continuing growth of responsible investment, both in our region and globally” said Simon O’Connor, CEO of the Responsible Investment Association Australasia.

The leaders and senior executives of Australia’s major banks, superannuation funds, insurance companies, financial sector peak bodies, civil society and academia are coming together to set out a roadmap for realigning the finance sector to support greater social, environmental and economic outcomes for the country. The Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative has today been unveiled – an unprecedented collaboration to help shape an Australian economy that prioritises human wellbeing, social equity and environmental protection, while underpinning financial system stability, in what it says is a ‘critical decade’ ahead. Modelled on international best practice already seen in groups including the European Union’s High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance and the UK’s Green Finance Taskforce, the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative will be guided by a Steering Committee charged with developing a set of recommendations to enable the finance sector to contribute more systematically to the transition to a more resilient and sustainable economy. IAG Group Executive Jacki Johnson, co-Chair of the Initiative, said: “The roadmap we create will include pathways, policy signals and frameworks that will better enable the financial services sector to contribute to delivering on international commitments, such as the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, while underpinning economic stability and prosperity for Australia.”