Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – A seismic shift has been taking place and, initiated by pioneers, sustainable investing has clearly transformed from something perceived as a little quirky or niche to the “way it is done properly.” But how far has sustainable investing penetrated into the alternative investment space?
In this special report on “ESG in Alternatives,” which HedgeNordic is co-publishing with NordSIP, we cover a wide range of topics on sustainable investing within the alternatives industry. Ashok Kumar Muthusamy, Senior Quantitative Researcher at Man Numeric, starts off with a discussion on “Costing the Transition to Net Zero” for companies that have already embarked or will embark on their paths towards net zero. Fernando Olaso, the co-head of the real assets team at Altamar CAM Partners, talks about the private markets specialist’s co-investment real assets fund that has “Sustainable Megatrends at the Core of Co-Investment Strategy.”
With scope for a huge scaling up of blended finance to accelerate developing countries’ transition towards lower carbon future, Nadia Nikolova, Lead Portfolio Manager in Development Finance at Allianz Global Investors, sees “Blended Finance at an Inflexion Point” with “Positive ESG Impact and Reasonable Return.” A naïve application of ESG investing in sovereign fixed-income markets could exacerbate SDG funding gaps, warns the World Bank, with average Sovereign ESG scores exhibiting a near 90 percent correlation to a country’s level of income.
A team at Emso Asset Management – Jens Nystedt, Oliver Faltin-Trager, Shikeb Farooqui, Joe Leadbetter, Mark Quandt – and Teal Emery of Teal Insights provide an update on the “Progress Towards a Sovereign ESG 2.0 Framework” that can halt the perverse effect of skewing capital flows towards rich countries and away from developing economies with the most significant SDG funding gaps.
Lindsay Thompson, Director and Head of EMEA Client Success at SS&C Eze, provides answers to a set of questions on “The Role of Technology in Navigating Complex ESG Requirements.” As sustainable investments grow, so too does the need for risk management solutions that are specifically tailored to ESG criteria. Payal Shah, Director and Equity Research and Product Development at CME Group, talks about “ESG Futures – Defining a Sustainable Core.”
Julia Axelsson of NordSIP revisits “The Sustainability of Short Selling” by discussing the pros and cons of short selling and where short selling meets ESG. Jack Inglis, the CEO of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), seeks to answer the question of whether 2022 is the “Year ESG Growth Finally Becomes Sustainable?” Turning to the Nordic hedge fund industry, Finnish asset manager Afalon Investment Management has launched a hedge fund focused on “Dividend Harvesting from Sustainability Themes.” Head of Sustainability Ann-Sofie Odenberg and Sustainability Manager Hampus Hårdeman from Brummer & Partners talk about “Managing ESG as a MultiManager” and their ESG Risk Rating Matrix that is currently in development.
Hamlin Lovell’s editorial observes that “Hedge Fund Managers Accelerate ESG Integration.” Lastly, Stefan Roos of Origo Fonder, Christer Bjørndal of CARN Capital and a team at Norron Asset Management argue that “Sustainability: More Than Just a Catchphrase” among Nordic long/ short equity managers.
We hope you find some interesting content to read, enjoy and debate and enjoy the upcoming holiday season.
You can access the paper on the link below:
ESG & Alternative Investments
or you can flip through it, here:
Title Pic (c) Tom Reichner—shutterstock.com
