SRI

After a challenging period for green investing, marked by rising interest rates, supply chain issues, and overcapacity, companies committed to building a sustainable world could remain an attractive long-term option for investors seeking both financial returns and positive impact.

Despite constraints on both their human and financial capital, Small- and Mid-Sized companies (SMIDs) share similar business ambitions with their larger counterparts while competing for the same talent. They need talent to fuel their growth, yet that rapid growth can strain employees. Attracting and retaining talent, while simultaneously maintaining workforce productivity, poses a challenge.

With the infrastructure sector poised for growth after a tumultuous period caused by the pandemic and subsequent inflationary boom, which areas could offer investment opportunities?

The impact of the 2024 elections on the decarbonization theme is of paramount importance, considering that the year marks a significant electoral period globally with 64 countries and the European Union - representing nearly half of the global population - heading to the polls.

In the vast subject of the challenges and difficulties of climate analysis from an investor's point of view, scope 3 emissions emerge insistently as one of the main stumbling blocks.

After 2022, which covered the end of a decade of monetary policy loosening, 2023 has been the year of the repricing of the whole interest rate curve. The end of Central Banks’ "higher for longer" mantra supported a steepening of the yield curves and repriced real interest rates which are back now in positive territory, for the first time in close to ten years.

Defined as the “stock of renewable and non-renewable natural resources (e.g.,plants, animals, air, water, soils, minerals) that combine to yield a flow of benefits to people” by the Natural Capital Coalition, natural capital is at the source of everything that surrounds us.

COP28 ended with a final statement that can be considered historic, mentioning for the first time the need to transition away from fossil fuels. However, this landmark deal should be considered as the start of a more ambitious journey, that will remain dependent on governments’ ability to step up their commitments and action.

As the COP28 kicks off at the end of the month in Dubai, we are paying close attention to this highly anticipated event, albeit mixed expectations.

There are several examples of emerging markets where corporate governance standards and ESG disclosure have evolved in recent years, among which China, India, South Korea, Taiwan…

In this month of pink October, we found important to take a look of the situation of breast cancer as well as advances and breakthroughs in research, and the financial environment for healthcare and oncology investment .

One clear conclusion is that pension fund-related institutions which have not yet embraced ESG will find themselves suddenly launched two squares forward on the chessboard, as they rush to integrate ESG into the overall governance of how they manage or administer pension assets and plans.

While human activity is pushing the Earth’s resources to the limit, it is time to rethink our consumption habits.

In our 2022 Engagement report, we offered a case study describing how we begin a topical campaign.

At Candriam, we are both more active and more demanding in our engagement activities, an attitude shared by several other investors, mostly European.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been yet another wake-up call for our need for energy independence. While Europe's reliance on Russian gas was evident, Russia is also one of the largest oil producers, exporting half of its production to Europe before February 2022.

Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation (SFDR), mandatory ESG disclosure obligations, was introduced by the European Union to improve transparency in the market for sustainable investment.

Publicly-traded companises have begun to incorporate ESG performance metrics into their executives’ compensation packages as part of efforts to increase transparency on their accountability vis-à-vis shareholders.

If France relies on its nuclear power, it will not do what is necessary in terms of renewables, says the German side.

For the portfolio management team in charge of the Global High Yield strategy, made up of Philippe Noyard, Global Head of Credit, Nicolas Jullien, CFA, Head of High Yield & Credit Arbitrage and Thomas Joret, Senior High Yield Fund Manager, combining their 20 years’ expertise in High-Yield bond investment with ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) analysis, represented by Vincent Compiègne, Deputy Global Head of ESG Investments & Research, has the potential to outperform signifi cantly over the long term.

Our climate is changing faster and faster, bringing our world closer to disastrous social and economic consequences every year. We are reaching the tipping point on every planetary boundary, meaning that at the current pace, we will reach a point of no return in this decade, threatening the future of both our planet and mankind.

Bond investors did have a rough time in 2022. But a new era begun when central banks initiated their forced march of interest rates hikes, bringing some fresh opportunities to investors.

As the March drama unfolds, it might help us to remember the long road that banks have travelled, and the path ahead. Those paths are very different on either side of the Atlantic.

Investors who fail to consider biodiversity in their portfolios increase the global problem, in turn reducing the growth potential and increasing the risk to their own investments. These two connected systems chase each other in a downward spiral.

Grey swan is an event that is possible and known, potentially extremely significant but considered not very likely to happen.