Ahren Lester

• HSBC named largest green, social and sustainability bond manager

  10 February 2020

  HSBC became the largest green, social and sustainability (GSS) bond market underwriter in 2019, in a year marked by rapidly accelerating diversification of the market.

• ESMA publishes ESG action plan

  07 February 2020

  The EU securities markets regulator is to increase its focus on sustainability, including looking at climate stress testing, risks from green bonds, and pushing credit rating agencies on how they incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.

• EU Taxonomy-consistent index family launched

  06 February 2020

  ISS ESG has launched a family of climate-focused indexes which are consistent with the specifications of the EU technical expert group on sustainable finance (TEG) report.

• Swedish fund manager launches Nordic green bond fund

  05 February 2020

  Swedish fund manager, Lannebo, will launch an actively-managed fund focused on Nordic green corporate bonds amid a surge in issuance from the region.

• Energy efficiency fund buys $110m US portfolio

  05 February 2020

  Investment fund SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust (SEEIT) has completed its $110 million acquisition of a 50% stake in a US industrial portfolio.

• BNY Mellon launches sterling version of sustainable bond fund

  04 February 2020

  BNY Mellon Investment Management has launched a sustainable, sterling version of its £2 billion ($2.6 billion) Global Dynamic Bond strategy.

• UK government launches COP26 after sacking president

  04 February 2020

  The UK government's launch of the UN Climate Summit, to be hosted in Glasgow in November, was overshadowed by its dismissal of the president of the negotiations, who hit back with a letter warning the process is "miles off track".

• Impact investment fund of funds passes 'milestone' assets level

  03 February 2020

  An impact investment fund of funds has passed €100 million ($110 million) in assets under management (AUM), shortly after completing a new investment based around financial inclusion.

• "Pitfalls" in ESG ratings requires investor caution

  31 January 2020

  Investors should be cautious when using the growing number of environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings and data providers amid several inherent pitfalls, although valuable insights can still be drawn from them.

• Transition-focused index backed by Church of England pension

  30 January 2020

  The pension board of the Church of England (CofE) has allocated £600 million ($780 million) to a fund tracking a first-of-its-kind, custom-made, climate transition index, and issued a rallying call for other pension funds to follow.