Efpa Esg Handbook

Since the 2021, the financial industry evolved to include ESG criteria in its products and processes. Thanks to regulatory pressures and public opinion, Sustainable Finance is becoming THE new standard for financial centres across Europe. However, a lack of knowledge and common definitions are still present to define its key concepts. Since 2021, EFPA Luxembourg launched an original initiative to democratise best practices in Sustainable Finance and establish clear and common definitions for its key concepts. Today, the EFPA ESG Handbook is joined by more than fifty entities and seventy co-authors sharing the same ambitions. Over the EFPA ESG Advisor certification, launched in 2021 and owned by more than 8’000 financial advisors across Europe, the European Financial Planning Association (EFPA) wants to help to close the gap between the current level of information and the level necessary due to increasing regulatory requirements around the integration of ESG criterion. This is why, the EFPA ESG Handbook is becoming digital, with the addition of a dedicated website to enrich its content, improve its update, and avoid its obsolescence. On this site and on top of their handbook, owners of the EFPA ESG Handbook will find enriched content, a regularly updated information base and practical tools for filtering the various headings on the site. History, regulation, investment products, investment process, risk management... this handbook offers a 360° point of view over the landscape of the Green Finance. We hope this journey will help the reader to have a better understanding of what Sustainable Finance means, looking at its framework, its aims, and its challenges. I wish you a pleasant reading.

Dal 2021 l’industria finanziaria si sta evolvendo per includere i criteri ESG nei suoi prodotti e processi. Grazie alle pressioni normative e all’opinione pubblica, la Finanza Sostenibile sta diventando IL nuovo standard per i centri finanziari di tutta Europa. Tuttavia, una conoscenza insufficiente e la mancanza di definizioni comuni ostacolano ancora l’utilizzo dei concetti chiave. Nel 2021 l’EFPA Luxembourg ha lanciato un’iniziativa originale per democratizzare le migliori pratiche di Finanza Sostenibile e diffondere definizioni chiare e comuni per i suoi concetti chiave. Oggi, il Manuale EFPA ESG include i contributi di oltre cinquanta enti e settanta co-autori che condividono le stesse ambizioni. Con la certificazione EFPA ESG Advisor, lanciata nel 2021 e posseduta da oltre 8.000 consulenti finanziari in tutta Europa, l’European Financial Planning Association (EFPA) vuole contribuire a colmare il divario tra l’attuale livello di informazione e quello necessario per soddisfare i crescenti requisiti normativi relativi all’integrazione dei criteri ESG. Per questo motivo il Manuale ESG dell’EFPA sta diventando digitale - anche con l’aggiunta di un sito web dedicato per arricchirne i contenuti, migliorarne l’aggiornamento ed evitarne l’obsolescenza. Su questo sito e sui loro manuali, i proprietari dell’EFPA ESG Handbook troveranno contenuti arricchiti, una base informativa regolarmente aggiornata e strumenti pratici per filtrare le varie voci del sito. Storia, normativa, prodotti d’investimento, processo d’investimento, gestione del rischio... questo manuale offre un punto di vista a 360° sul panorama della finanza verde. Ci auguriamo che questo viaggio aiuti il lettore a comprendere meglio il significato di Finanza Sostenibile, esaminando il suo quadro di riferimento, i suoi obiettivi e le sue sfide. Vi auguro una piacevole lettura.

The UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment initiative has led to around a third of the world’s financial assets being managed with a commitment to invest in a way that considers environmental, social or governance (ESG) criteria. The responsible investment trend has increased dramatically since the global financial crisis, yet understanding of this field remains at an early stage. This handbook provides an atlas of current practice in the field of responsible investment. With a large global team of expert contributors, the book explores the impact of responsible investment on key financial actors ranging from mainstream asset managers to religious organizations. Offering students and researchers a comprehensive introduction to current scholarship and international structures in the expanding discipline of responsible investment, this handbook is vital reading across the fields of finance, economics and accounting.

As global governments and regulators set an agenda for net zero carbon emissions, the focus on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria among investors, from pension scheme members to institutions, is on the rise. The ESG Investing Handbook is an indispensable guide to the history, developments and latest thinking into the future of ESG investing from some of the most influential names in the business. Featuring interviews with: Lisa Beauvilain, Director, Impax Asset Management Tony Burdon, CEO, Make My Money Matter Mark Campanale, Founder & Executive Chairman,Carbon Tracker Amy Clarke, Chief Impact Officer, Tribe Impact Capital Keith Davies, Chief Risk & Compliance Officer, Federated Hermes Ltd Bruce Davis, co-founder, Abundance Investment Ingrid Holmes, Director, Green Finance Institute Yan Swiderski, co-founder, Global Returns Project Richard Wilson, CEO interactive investor The Baillie Gifford Global Stewardship Team Expert Editor, Becky O’Connor covers the big questions and key themes, such as the effectiveness of divestment versus engagement strategies for promoting positive change as well as difficult topics, such as greenwash. In this fast-moving and often demanding area for both asset managers and investors, this book will look at some big questions and themes, such as: • Does ESG always boost financial performance? • Is it possible to be good at all three factors at the same time? • Can investors trust ESG ratings?

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues are increasingly considered as core business priorities for companies, boards and investors, with ESG representing an area of significant opportunity for many. Navigating the broad range of topics that fall under ESG, including regulatory developments, political impacts and stakeholder sentiment, requires multidisciplinary and global expertise from experienced practitioners.Featuring cross-jurisdictional insight, this important title covers a range of ESG topics in depth, containing contributions from leading legal professionals, industry experts and consultants. The book firstly discusses 'what is ESG?' before covering areas including supply chain topics, financial regulatory impacts, ESG disclosure obligations, M&A and private equity, among many other important subjects. Further, the book contains regional specific insights from practitioners on the ground and includes analysis on the diverse themes which underpin the current and future direction of ESG. Specific chapters are also dedicated to the emerging matters of ESG litigation, the evolving nature of technology in ESG, and the incorporation of ESG into enterprise risk management. The final part of the book looks at broader trends and developments in the area.Despite the large volume of information already available, this is one of the first publications to draw together the various strands of ESG into one book and provides a valuable source of information in this fast-evolving area. It will make important reading for all legal and other advisers and professionals with an interest in furthering their ESG knowledge.

A fast growing share of investors have recently widened their scope of analysis to criteria regarded as extra-financial. They are driven by different motivations. Adoption of sustainable investment strategies can be driven, on the one hand by the sole motivation to hedge portfolios against knowable risks by expanding the conceptual framework to incorporate the latest best practice in risk management. Other investors focus rather on a long-term view and make an active bet on societal change. Recent empirical research has shown that considering sustainability factors within investment practices does not come at a cost (i.e. through a reduced opportunity set) but allows for competitive returns. Furthermore, the growing market and resulting competition in the wake of sustainable investing going mainstream has the welcome effect to compress fees for such products. Hence, staying informed about recent trends in sustainable investing is imperative no matter what the main motivation is.

Since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis the prevailing economic development model based on an assumption of unlimited resources and, therefore, unlimited growth has been increasingly put into question by academics, policy-making agencies and even industry leaders themselves. Climate change, general environmental and natural resource degradation, widespread inequalities, and systemic governance failures are pressing capitalism to renew itself to deliver sustainable outcomes for a broader base of stakeholders. This has become known in more practical terms as the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and responsible investment movements. The pressure to change how we organise ourselves as societies and economies has implications for how large and small corporations, public or private, are governed and to the benefit of whom. This Handbook offers a rare combination of pluralistic and multidisciplinary perspectives from law, economics, finance and management, as well as an interesting mix of latest academic thinking and practical recommendations on ESG for boards and executive teams. Should companies be governed and managed for the benefit of their shareholders alone? Can companies be governed to deliver for shareholders as well as the broader stakeholder base? How can investors allocate capital to advance sustainability? Part I provides a pluralistic discussion of some of these fundamental questions besetting academics and practitioners alike while Part II examines recent regulatory developments and assesses what may need to change in terms of law and regulation to both hold companies to account for sustainability while enabling them to continue to provide vital goods and services. Part III of the book discusses how the different types of companies and investors are currently facing the sustainability imperative and incorporating ESG factors on how they operate and invest. The concluding chapter provides an overview of the key regulatory, ecosystem and board-level gaps that require urgent and decisive action.