Sustainable Investment Awards 2020

India's chemical industry is the main bulk provider to the pharmaceuticals industry in the Western world. While growth of the industry in India obviously creates economic benefits, it also contributes to country's severe water pollution crisis as a result of the waste generated in the manufacturing process.

Brown Advisory's fixed income team believes that by integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into their bond research process, they're able to identify risks that might not be revealed through fundamental analysis alone.

A $3.4 billion credit risk transfer featuring "ground-breaking" impact characteristics includes pricing incentives linked to positive impact and use-of-proceeds requirements.

Investing solely in listed companies that address sustainability challenges, WHEB Asset Management is a specialist boutique focused on creating prosperity through positive impact investments.

Last year saw MSCI launch the MSCI Climate Change Indexes, designed to identify low-carbon investment opportunities and help investors build more carbon-resilient portfolios.

Sustainalytics has broadened its range of environmental, social and governance (ESG) research, launching both an ESG Data offering and its Country Risk Ratings over the last year, to enable investors to assess companies and countries on various ESG risks, themes and indicators.

Eiffel Investment Group claims its impact debt fund is the first private debt fund to explicitly link the cost of borrowing with the achievement of positive sustainability impact, in the form of 'impact covenants'.

September saw the launch of Qontigo, as Deutsche Börse's combined its existing index businesses, STOXX and DAX, with risk analytics tool Axioma.

The £30 billion ($38 billion) Brunel Pension Partnership was praised for its clear and broad climate policy, active engagement, and ongoing push for disclosure improvements.

Fitch Ratings secured the nod for most transparent credit rating agency (CRA) for the second year in a row, after its environmental, social and governance (ESG) relevance scores continued to impress, helped by the expansion of names and asset classes covered.

Recent months have seen Mirova raise €860 million for a new energy transition fund and further entrench itself in the natural capital investment market.

London Stock Exchange (LSE) impressed judges by both the breadth and depth of its sustainable investment innovation, including the launch of its Green Economy Mark (GEM) and sustainable bond market.

In a year scarred by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, Candriam's equities oncology impact fund outperformed its benchmark and grew its overall assets under management to $630 million.

The dependence of the value of a country's sovereign bonds on the management of its stocks of natural resources is set to intensify over the next decade, according to the Grantham Research Institute and Planet Tracker.

Macquarie's Green Investment Group (GIG) and Bloomberg NEF (BNEF) developed a Carbon Score tool to standardise climate-related data and assess carbon impact.

Ninety One, formerly Investec Asset Management, saw its Global Environment strategy return 42% in 2019, outperforming the MSCI All Country World's return of 27%.

The Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) uses forward-looking carbon performance assessments to measure companies' pathways to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement - and assesses their progress towards meeting these goals.

Jupiter Global Ecology Diversified (JGED) impressed the awards judges by its success in both enhancing its ESG agenda through its equity and fixed income holdings, whilst delivering strong returns.

Since 2015 BMO Global Asset Management has been engaging with market participants on green, social and sustainability bond market issues.

BNP Paribas's European Infra Debt Fund posted returns of 276 basis points (bps) above the three-month Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor), in the 12 months to 31 December 2019, above its target of three-month Euribor +215 bps.

New Forests' inaugural Climate Disclosure Report 2020 (CDR) is believed to be the first time that the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) have been applied to the forestry asset class.

Wellington Management's Global Credit Investment Team has developed a quantitative environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings methodology, which has been incorporated into its fixed income portfolio management system to ensure strong ESG credentials of the issuers selected.

Brunel Pension Partnership teamed with consultancy Chronos Sustainability to develop a climate change framework that would allow it to achieve investment returns whilst being in alignment with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Adenia is one of very few private equity firms that acquire majority controlling equity stakes in mature African companies. It implemented an ambitious ESG transformation plan with its pharmaceutical company, Opham.

In a busy year for the Church of England Pensions Board's ethics and engagement director, Adam Matthews has been recognised for his prominent role across a number of collaborative investor engagement initiatives.

French insurance firm AG2R La Mondiale has been awarded Insurer of the Year because of its efforts in integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into the management of all assets.

NextEnergy Capital (NEC) had a second close of its third fund, NextPower III, of $280 million earlier this year.

Wells, Wires and Wheels, a paper published by BNP Paribas Asset Management's Mark Lewis, outlined the tough road oil faces to remain competitive with renewables as an energy source for the transportation sector.

Italian private equity firm Ambienta specialises in investments that capture long-term environmental growth trends.

Asset manager Pimco has been awarded ESG Investment of the Year for fixed income because the judges were impressed by its Climate Bond Strategy approach.

The 2° Investing Initiative (2DII) was recognised by the awards judges for its innovative and timely modelling of the impact caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

MJ Hudson Spring has been awarded investment consultant of the year, capping 12 months that have seen the firm undergo radical changes.

ESG Portfolio Management is an asset manager of investment funds and segregated accounts, embedding the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Partners Group provides access to private markets for around 900 institutional investors and currently has about $94 billion in assets under management (AuM).

In August 2018, Jane Ambachtsheer stepped down as chair of responsible investment at consultancy Mercer to take on the position of global head of sustainability at BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM).

A key factor behind emerging markets investor Actis being crowned 'Private equity manager of the year' was the launch last year of the Actis Impact Score (AIS).

Aviva Investors is among the 10 largest asset managers in the UK, with some £346 billion ($426 billion) under management at the end of last year, and claims to have pursued a 'responsible investment' approach for 40 years.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) says its $130 million sustainable forestry fund can be a model for large-scale impact investment in forests.

Triodos Investment Management (IM) describes itself as a pure-play impact investment firm. This means all €4.9 billion of its assets are deployed with the goal of achieving impact, explains Andrea Palmer, product specialist for impact equities and bonds.

Affirmative Investment Management (AIM) claims to have promoted good practice in the bond market through its engagement with issuers, as many have enhanced their reporting to meet AIM's stringent criteria.

A securitisation of affordable housing loans with a novel structure offers a model US banks could copy.

In 2019, German asset manager DWS continued to develop new ESG products and solutions, while also providing stakeholders with greater ESG data transparency.