The 2018 Impact Reports from Triodos Bank's asset management arm Triodos Investment Management (IM) won the award for Best ESG Reporting by an Asset or Fund Manager: medium or small.

"As a boutique impact fund manager, we understand that prudent allocation of capital can benefit people and the environment over the long-term. Therefore, we see impact and Environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting as fundamental to our business," says Dick van Ommeren, Managing Director at Triodos Investment Management.

"Our underlying investors expect proof that their capital has been deployed to facilitate positive social and environmental impact, and our reporting provides this transparency. Our impact reporting also demonstrates to the fund management industry that such accountability is possible, and even desirable."

ESG data is reported at various levels, including asset class, impact theme, and single fund level. The report also integrates major impact reporting frameworks including the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the GHG Protocol, Platform for Carbon Accounting Financials, the International Integrated Reporting Council's framework, the Global Impact Investing Network's IRIS indicators, and the Global Alliance for Banking on Values triple bottom line scorecard.

Looking ahead, van Ommeren says Triodos IM sees the market moving towards more standardised impact indicators. "This will help underlying asset owners to be able to more accurately compare impact funds and roll-up their fund holdings to portfolio level. The recent launch of the Global Impact Investing Network's IRIS+ indicators are a huge step in professionalising and ensuring continued integrity within the impact investing industry," he adds.

Triodos invests across private equity and debt, as well as listed shares and bonds. Within the private equity and debt space, the investments are broken nto three major strategies: energy and climate, sustainable food and agriculture, and financial inclusion.