Asset managers do too little in environmental commitment, according to study
Published: Wednesday, Jun 19th 2024, 00:20
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The asset managers of the largest Swiss banks and insurance companies are still clearly not doing enough for the environment and the climate. This is the conclusion of a study commissioned by the environmental organization Greenpeace. The accusation is that the invested companies are not insisting enough on more sustainable practices.
As part of the study conducted by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) together with data analysts Rezonanz, 14 asset managers operating in Switzerland were examined. These include those from groups such as Axa, Credit Suisse, Raiffeisen, Swisscanto, Swiss Life and UBS.
However, none of the reviewed asset management departments made it into the top three places in the ranking compiled in the analysis; these remained empty. The reason for this is that none of the asset managers apply practices in their investments that are in line with international climate and nature conservation goals.
Investment stewardship is about asset managers and investors exerting their influence on more sustainable business practices at the companies in which they invest. In the Greenpeace study, Blackrock, Swiss Life and Credit Suisse scored worst in this respect, while Pictet, Axa and UBS performed best.
However, given its size and importance, UBS's sixth place is far from sufficient, criticizes Greenpeace. The big bank must quickly establish itself as a true leader in environmental and climate responsibility, they demand.
For the study, publicly available information on the environmental stewardship of asset managers was first collected and evaluated. In a second step, the authors interviewed the asset managers. The areas of "commitment" to sustainability, "engagement" (dialog with companies) and "voting" (voting behavior) were examined.
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