ESG

Super funds demonstrating leading practice responsible investment are taking a bigger share of the market and financially outperforming their peers, according to a new study from the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA). The study finds that one-quarter of super funds are demonstrating leading practice responsible investment, but these super funds hold 42% of total assets, compared with 28% in 2019. The study also shows that the majority (77%) of Australia’s largest super funds still have work to do in terms of transparency if they are to meet new legislative requirements to disclose their portfolio holdings publicly in 2022. The fourth edition of RIAA’s Responsible Investment Super Study 2021, sponsored by PIMCO, presents the results of a biennial survey of Australia’s largest super funds – accounting for $1.9 trillion in assets under management. The Super Study shows super funds that implement leading practice responsible investment continue to outperform their peers financially (87 basis points over 1 year and 56 over 7 years). The average performance of leading responsible investment super funds’ My Super products is better than non-leaders over 3-, 5- and 7-year timeframes.

In the universe of sustainable finance, we’re getting used to growth. More investors are demanding ESG screens, more are looking for impact, and more are flexing their custodial rights.

In this session we dive into managing impact for fixed income products, and hear from global managers Affirmative Investment Management and Nuveen.

The Responsible Investment Association Australasia is pleased to present the results of our Responsible Investment Benchmark Report Aotearoa New Zealand 2021.

The market for responsible investments in Aotearoa New Zealand has continued to soar in popularity to $142 billion in 2020, with responsible investment assets growing at more than twice the rate of overall professionally managed investments – the landmark annual study from the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) has found. The new RIAA report, researched in collaboration with KPMG, Responsible Investment Benchmark Report Aotearoa New Zealand 2021, shows that while the majority of the mainstream investment market claims to be responsibly invested, those funds engaging in leading practice responsible investment have seen an explosion in assets under management, increasing 28% to $142 billion in 2020 from $111 billion in 2019. Additionally, the proportion of professionally managed funds now managed with leading practice responsible investment has grown to 43% in 2020. “The proportion of New Zealand’s investment managers practising a leading approach to responsible investment nearly doubled in 2020, to comprise nearly half of investment managers purporting to engage in responsible investing,” said Nicolette Boele, Executive, Policy and Standards for RIAA. “This trend suggests the quality of practice in New Zealand is pulling ahead of the Australian marketplace, where only a quarter of investment managers are engaging in leading practice responsible investment. “Meanwhile we are seeing those investment managers with ineffective responsible investment policies and poor processes being left behind as the capital moves out”.

The Responsible Investment Association Australasia is pleased to present the results of our Responsible Investment Benchmark Report Australia 2021.

The market for responsible investments in Australia has continued to soar in popularity to $1.2 trillion in 2020, with responsible investment assets growing at 15 times the rate that overall Australian professionally managed investments have grown – the landmark annual study from the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) has found. The new RIAA report, researched in collaboration with KPMG, Responsible Investment Benchmark Report 2021 Australia, shows that the Australian responsible investment market reached new highs in 2020, increasing to $1,281 billion in 2020 from $983 billion in 2019. Additionally, the proportion of responsible investment AUM to total managed funds grew from 31% to 40% in 2020, despite there only being a 2% increase in all professionally managed funds in Australia over the same period. While the majority of the mainstream investment market claims to be responsibly invested, those funds engaging in leading practice responsible investment have seen an explosion in assets under management, growing 30% in 2020. This movement of capital has come at the expense of the remainder of the market, which has seen the value of assets shrink by 11% ($234 billion). “Investment managers committed to responsible investment and leading practice are seeing money moving across into their funds, while those with ineffective policies and poor processes are being left behind as the capital moves out” said Nicolette Boele, Executive, Policy and Standards for RIAA. “The message for investment managers is clear. It’s not good enough to simply claim you’re investing responsibly. If you’re not doing it well, then there’s a high risk of losing business.

Whilst the last year has had us all battling the invisible enemy that has been COVID-19 on both personal and professional fronts, it has also been a year of immense momentum in responsible investment and sustainable finance, as you are all no doubt aware.

The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) recently launched COMPASS: The Methodology for Comparing and Assessment, a first-of-its-kind analytic methodology for understanding portfolio- and investment-level impact performance.