• Home
  • News
    • People moves
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Australia
    • Canada
    • Caribbean
    • Domicile
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • North America
    • Middle East
    • US
    • US
    • UK
  • Products
    • Funds
    • Pensions
    • Platforms
    • Insurance
    • Investments
    • Private Banking
    • Citizenship
    • Taxation
  • Fintech
  • Regulation
  • ESG
  • Expats
  • In Depth
  • Special Reports
  • Directory
  • Video
  • Advertise with us
  • Directory
  • Events
  • European Fund Selector
  • Newsletters
  • Follow us
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • Newsletters
  • Advertise with us
  • Directory
  • Events
    • Upcoming events
      event logo
      International Investment Nordic Forum 2021

      International Investment is delighted to announce the 2021 International Investment Nordic Forum which will take place on Tuesday March 9, at 9am (GMT). This curated virtual event will be broadcast live and will feature a series of fund manager interviews and presentations, as well as interviews with some of the Nordic regions top fund selectors.

      • Date: 09 Mar 2021
      • ONLINE, ONLINE
      View all events
  • European Fund Selector
International Investment
International Investment

Sponsored by

Sharing Alpha
  • Home
  • News
  • Products
  • Fintech
  • Regulation
  • ESG
  • Expats
  • In Depth
  • Special Reports
  • Video
  • Fixed Income

Investors turn to SRI to restore financial discipline

  • Luisa Porritt
  • 29 March 2011
  • Tweet  
  • Facebook  
  • LinkedIn  
  • Send to  

A few years ago, socially responsible investing was relatively unknown. Now European asset managers are increasingly incorporating ethics in their investment techniques. Luisa Porritt asks whether it will last.

A few years ago, socially responsible investing was relatively unknown. Now European asset managers are increasingly incorporating ethics in their investment techniques. Luisa Porritt asks whether it will last.

Socially responsible investing (SRI) has in the past been met with some cynicism, with investors unclear about its potential to generate returns on the scale delivered by traditional investing. But the debate has moved on.

Related articles

  • SRI in Italy - Waiting for the institutional investor
  • Standardising assessments gives boost to SRI
  • The Swedish approach to SRI
  • Water is the word, says Eurizon Capital SRI

Increasingly, global corporates are adhering to environmental and social governance guidelines, and that search for discipline has spilled over into financial investment techniques. Investors are still demanding returns first and foremost, but those returns are being generated from pre-defined ethical guidelines.

A rapid growth in SRI funds over the past few years is evidence of that trend. Today, the European SRI market holds about €5trn in AUM, up 87% from two years ago when it was €2.7trn, according to European pension fund body Eurosif’s 2010 survey.

Total ‘core’ SRI assets, or those meeting more stringent SRI demands, represent 10% of the entire European asset management industry. So what has driven the sudden surge towards SRI, and is it sustainable? A change in consciousness since the financial crisis is often cited as a turning point.

“The financial crisis has elevated the question of ethics in the boardroom,” says Camille Thommes, director-general at the Association of the Luxembourg Funds Industry. Jacques Santer, former Luxembourg prime minister and chair of the European Commission, describes the financial crisis as “a crisis of ethics for the financial sector”. He adds: “The financial crisis showed that a new approach was needed to short-term and longer-term sustainable development.”

Unsustainable

‘Irresponsible events’ such as the financial crisis and the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill have put principles of responsibility more on people’s radar, claims Sandra Carlisle of F&C Asset Management’s governance and sustainable investment team.

Andreas Utermann, chief investment officer of RCM, a unit of Allianz Global Investors, agrees with her: “Financial analysis and the traditional way analysts examined companies and ran their programmes were just not sustainable. It became clear that both regulation governing the industry, and how BP was run, were not sustainable in the long run.”

 

1234
  • Tweet  
  • Facebook  
  • LinkedIn  
  • Send to  
  • Topics
  • Fixed Income
  • Equities
  • Alternative
  • Alternative
  • Equities
  • Equities
  • Benelux
  • Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)
  • France
  • Germany
  • Iberia
  • Nordic
  • Switzerland
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Fixed Income (Bonds)
  • Equities
  • Europe
  • Fixed Income
  • Hedge Funds
  • Property (Real Estate)
  • Regions
  • Spain
  • Western Europe

More on Fixed Income

Comment: Navigating equity markets in the year ahead

  • Comment
  • 21 January 2021
M&G taps Value Partners for £500m Chinese equities mandate

  • Equities
  • 16 December 2020
Global equities tumble on covid-19 fears and US jitters

  • Equities
  • 27 October 2020
BMO Global AM launches sustainable equity fund in China

  • ESG
  • 25 August 2020
HSBC Singapore launches first AI-powered equity index structured note

  • Equities
  • 13 August 2020
Back to Top

Most read

Duff & Phelps opens Gibraltar office
Duff & Phelps opens Gibraltar office
Brexit deals hefty blow to City but industry is ready to fight back
Brexit deals hefty blow to City but industry is ready to fight back
Comment: Are cryptocurrencies the new gold?
Comment: Are cryptocurrencies the new gold?
FSCS warns industry of £1bn compensation bill
FSCS warns industry of £1bn compensation bill
Dubai regulator to develop cryptocurrency framework
Dubai regulator to develop cryptocurrency framework
  • Contact Us
  • Marketing solutions
  • About Incisive Media
  • Terms and conditions
  • Policies
  • Careers
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletters

© Incisive Business Media (IP) Limited, Published by Incisive Business Media Limited, New London House, 172 Drury Lane, London WC2B 5QR, registered in England and Wales with company registration numbers 09177174 & 09178013

Digital publisher of the year
Digital publisher of the year 2010, 2013, 2016 & 2017
Loading