- Equity funds sold by Swedbank, La Banque Postale, Mirova and Ecofi among the 15 funds recognized in annual Climetrics Fund Awards
- French asset managers lead climate performance with over half of the given awards across the European equity, global equity and emerging markets categories.
- Annual ranking is based on new, TCFD-aligned methodology of Climetrics, the climate rating for funds, which now scores stocks for reducing GHG emissions, managing water resources and tackling deforestation.
Feb 24, 2019 (Paris): Fifteen equity funds are being recognized tomorrow as the top climate performers at the CDP Europe Awards in Paris.
The ranking of funds across the European equity, global equity and emerging markets asset classes is based on new data from the climate rating for funds, Climetrics, launched by non-profit CDP and ISS-ESG in 2017.
Climetrics independently rates around 17,000 global funds and issues ratings on a scale of ‘1-leaf’ to ‘5-leaf’ using a best-in-universe approach.
The top five actively managed funds for each category were selected based on their underlying Climetrics score, chosen from hundreds issued with a ‘5-leaf’ Climetrics rating in the European equity and global equity categories. The top five funds in the emerging markets equity class were also awarded.
The awards are handed out at the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs in Paris, under the High Patronage of Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic.
The ranking is based on Climetrics’ new underlying methodology, which is public. It measures the performance of a fund’s holdings, its asset manager’s governance of climate issues, and its investment policy, to help investors find funds well-positioned in the transition to a low carbon economy.
The rating is most affected by a fund’s holdings, so is heavily influenced by the active investment decisions taken by fund managers. Using data from CDP, ISS-ESG and other sources[1], Climetrics calculates how well companies in a fund’s portfolio disclose and manage material risks and opportunities related to climate change, water security and deforestation, which are key climate-related concerns for financial markets.
The methodology now uses a new materiality factor to calculate scores at a portfolio level. This gives higher scores to stocks which have highly material climate, water or forests risks but disclose and manage them well, for example by setting science-based targets to reduce emissions in line with the level needed to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
Nico Fettes, Head of Climetrics at CDP, said:
“We urgently have to see faster progress among investors to move capital into companies with lower carbon and more sustainable business models. Greater transparency in the fund industry is key to this process. Climetrics’ aim is to give investors confidence about their investments, and these awards recognize that certain funds represent a more progressive approach in lowering long-term risks to investors from climate change”
The awarded funds stand out as generally investing in companies which disclose climate data more comprehensively and transparently, show a thorough awareness of their climate risks, demonstrate strong governance of those risks, and which are adopting market-leading best practices like setting science-based targets, shifting to renewable energy, and incentivizing suppliers to reduce emissions.
These are the second annual awards for Climetrics-rated funds, and the first time that global and emerging market equity funds are included.
Asset managers La Banque Postale and Ecofi both have more than one award-winning fund, while French asset managers received over 50% of all awards, underlining the leading role of French investors and asset managers in the transition to a low carbon, more resource-secure economy.
Climetrics rates over 17,000 funds every month representing €15.9 trillion, around 31% of the mutual fund market. It is freely available at www.cdp.net/en/investor/climetrics
See all winning funds here.
-ENDS-
Notes to editor
For more information or interviews with CDP, please contact:
Joshua Snodin, CDP +4917645910909 | e : [email protected]
About CDP scores
CDP assesses companies on the comprehensiveness of their disclosure, their awareness and management of environmental risks and their demonstration of best practices associated with environmental leadership, such as setting ambitious and meaningful targets.
The full methodology for the CDP scores is transparent and available on CDP’s website here: under ‘CDP scoring methodologies 2019.’
About CDP
CDP is an international non-profit that drives companies and governments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests. Voted number one climate research provider by investors and working with institutional investors with assets of US$ 96 trillion, we leverage investor and buyer power to motivate companies to disclose and manage their environmental impacts. Over 8400 companies with some 50% of global market capitalization disclosed environmental data through CDP in 2019. This is in addition to the over 850 cities, states and regions who disclosed, making CDP’s platform one of the richest sources of information globally on how companies and governments are driving environmental change. CDP, formerly Carbon Disclosure Project, is a founding member of the We Mean Business Coalition. Please visit www.cdp.net or follow us @CDP to find out more.
About Climetrics
Climetrics is the first rating that provides a holistic assessment of a fund’s climate-related risks and opportunities. It independently rates thousands of actively managed funds and ETFs and its ratings are free-to-search, providing investors with transparency on climate change-related risks when comparing funds. Climetrics looks inside each fund, measuring its portfolio holdings' exposure to climate risks and opportunities, as well as the fund’s investment policy and the asset manager’s public action on climate change. It was developed by two recognized climate specialists, non-profit CDP and ISS-ESG. The project was catalyzed and funded by Climate-KIC, the EU's main climate innovation initiative.
It currently rates over 17000 funds and ETFs for sale in Europe worth over €15.9 trillion. For more information see climetrics-rating.org.
[1] Climetrics uses market-leading company data from CDP and ISS-ESG. It also draws from additional data sources, such as from the Science-Based Targets initiative and RE100. The Climetrics methodology is strongly aligned with the TCFD recommendations. It integrates TCFD-aligned CDP scores for companies in its evaluation of portfolio holdings, and tracks asset managers’ TCFD-based reporting through the PRI reporting framework.