Amundi, Candriam, La Banque Postale AM and Robeco top green fund league table

March 02, 2021 (Berlin): Twenty equity funds from sixteen asset managers are recognized today as the top environmental performers at the CDP Europe Awards, hosted by the European Investment Bank.

The ranking of funds across the European, global, emerging markets and US equities asset classes is based on data from the climate rating for funds, Climetrics.

Climetrics rates 20,000 global funds – around one third of the total global mutual fund market - and publishes free-to-search ratings on a scale of ‘1-leaf’ to ‘5-leaf’. Any investor can use it to search funds that are well-positioned in the transition to a low-carbon, water-safe and deforestation-free economy.

The rating is offered by non-profit charity CDP, which runs the global environmental disclosure system, and ISS-ESG.

The top five actively managed funds for each equity category were selected based on their underlying Climetrics score. In the global equity and European equity categories, all funds are rated the best ‘5-leaf’, while in the emerging markets equity and US equity category, the highest fund rating given was ‘4-leaf’.

The EU had $1 trillion in AUM in sustainable funds in 2020, compared with just $179 billion in the US.[2]

Climetrics Fund Awards results

Asset managers Amundi, Candriam, La Banque Postale Asset Management and Robeco each have two award-winning funds, while French asset managers received over a third of all awards, underlining the leading role of French investors and asset managers in the transition to a low carbon, more resource-secure economy. In the US equity award category, 4 of the 5 awards were won by European asset managers.

The awards are distributed during the CDP Europe Awards, a high-level dialogue hosted by CDP and the European Investment Bank and produced by Euronews, Europe’s most-watched news channel.

Nico Fettes, Head of Product Development at CDP Europe, said:

“Easy-to-access transparency about funds’ environmental performance, provided by Climetrics, enables the industry to step up and fuel the transition to a net-zero emissions, resource-secure economy. We urgently need a faster shift in capital towards the companies with sustainable business models and clear transition plans in line with 1.5°C of warming. The funds winning this year’s Climetrics Fund Awards are investments that are better vehicles for investors looking to drive the low-carbon transition.”

Climetrics uses a best-in-universe approach and 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 concerns for financial markets. It also assesses the asset manager’s own governance of climate issues and its investment policy.

The rating emphasizes transition finance: it gives better scores to funds investing in green technologies or in companies with good management of material climate, water and forests-related risks. This includes, for example, companies from high impact sectors that have a science-based target to reduce emissions in line with 1.5°C.

This approach enables investors to easily find diverse funds with good environmental performance and helps channel capital faster to the low-carbon transition.

All top-rated (5-leaf) funds are run by asset managers demonstrating strong climate action through participation in collective corporate engagement initiatives and good climate-related disclosure.

5 of the 16 winning managers – AXA IM, Handelsbanken, Nordea, Robeco, and Schroders – are part of the newly-launched Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, a $9 trillion group committed to net-zero aligned investment by 2050.

The full results are published here.

Magdalena Wahlqvist Alveskog, CEO Handelsbanken Fonder, said:

"Investments in future solutions, as well as companies transitioning to more sustainable operations in line with the Global Goals, are both of considerable importance to our entire organisation. We are grateful and proud to have received the Climetrics Fund Award for Hållbar Energi, an acknowledgement of our long-standing belief that sustainability and profitability go hand in hand. Our aspiration is to create value for future generations."

Christine Clet-Messadi, lead portfolio manager at Allianz Global Investors, remarked:

“"We are honoured to accept this award from the CDP. Global warming is a major sustainable development issue with a potential to impact the economic models, growth and risk profiles of companies across different sectors, and investors are now at the forefront to help companies transition to a low-carbon economy. Launched ahead of the Cop21, Allianz Climate Transition aims to support European companies that are best equipped to tackle climate change”.

The winning funds generally invest in companies which disclose better climate, forests and water data to CDP, show a comprehensive awareness of material environmental risks, and are investing in leading practices like setting science-based targets and transitioning to 100% renewable energy.

These are the third annual awards for Climetrics-rated funds, and the first time that US equity funds are included.

Climetrics rates nearly 20,000 funds every month representing €16.8 trillion, around 32% of the total assets of the global investment fund industry. The database is free-to-search at www.cdp.net/en/investor/climetrics

-ENDS-

Notes to editor

For more information or interviews with CDP, please contact:

Joshua Snodin, CDP +4917645910909 | e : [email protected]

About CDP

CDP is a global non-profit that runs the world’s environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states and regions. Founded in 2000 and working with over 590 investors with $110 trillion in assets, CDP pioneered using capital markets and corporate procurement to motivate companies to disclose their environmental impacts, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests. Over 10,000 organizations around the world disclosed data through CDP in 2020, including more than 9,600 companies worth over 50% of global market capitalization, and over 940 cities, states and regions, representing a combined population of over 2.6 billion. Fully TCFD aligned, CDP holds the largest environmental database in the world, and CDP scores are widely used to drive investment and procurement decisions towards a zero carbon, sustainable and resilient economy. CDP is a founding member of the Science Based Targets initiative, We Mean Business Coalition, The Investor Agenda and the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. Visit cdp.net or follow us @CDP and on LinkedIn 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 environmental 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. Climetrics rates nearly 20,000 funds every month representing €16.8 trillion, around 32% of the total assets of the global investment fund industry.

The database is free-to-search at www.cdp.net/en/investor/climetrics