Our survey results and literature review suggest that two-thirds of retail investors have sustainability investment objectives, and 40% want to have a measurable environmental impact in the real economy.
Meanwhile, we found that half of the 230 “sustainability-themed” retail funds we analyzed make environmental impact claims, and almost none of them comply with regulatory guidance that require claims to be specific, unambiguous and substantiated.
Another principal-agent problem relates to the use of shareholder voting rights by fund managers. While impact-oriented retail clients seem to favor engagement and use of voting rights as the best mobilization mechanism, voting rights legally belong to fund managers – who do not consult retail clients on their use.
Policy relevance:
- Delegated Act on MIFID/IDD on the integration of sustainability into financial advice
- EU Ecolabel on financial products
- Shareholder Rights Directive
- Non-financial disclosures regulation
Please note we will stream the entire webinar via Zoom, and you are welcome to login before your chosen session(s) and/or remain for the following sessions. The webinar will also be recorded for those who wish to watch later. For any questions, please email comms@2degrees-investing.org!
Full program:
Speakers:
- Aleksandra Mączyńska, Executive Director; Edoardo Carlucci, Research & Policy Officer, BETTER FINANCE
- Stan Dupré, CEO and Co-Founder; David Cooke, Policy Manager; Pablo Felmer Roa, Senior Legal Analyst, 2° Investing Initiative
- Dr. Bo van Grinsven, Owner & Consultant, Behavioral Insights Company
- Julian McLachlan, Policy officer at the European Commission’s DG Environment
- Will Pomroy, Engagement Director at Hermes Investment Management
- Dr. Rob Bauer, Professor of Finance, Institutional Investors Chair, Maastricht University
- Sebastien Godinot, Economist, WWF European Policy Office
- Dr. Julian Kolbel, Head of Research, Post-Doc, University of Zurich
I. Compliance of environmental impact claims (9:00-9:45) – Please note all times are Central European Time (CET)
9:00 – 9:30 – Misleading marketing claims – Pablo Felmer Roa & Stan Dupré (2DII)
9:30-9:45 [Q&A]
II. Consumer expectations (9:45-10:45)
9:45-9:55 – Policy context – Aleksandra Mączyńska & Edoardo Carlucci (Better Finance)
9:55 – 10:10 – Consumer surveys – Stan Dupré (2DII) & Dr. Bo van Grinsven (Behavioral Insights Company)
10:10 – 10:25 – Behavioral finance perspective – Dr. Rob Bauer (Maastricht University)
10:25-10:45 [Q&A]
10:45-11:00 – Break
III. Environmental impact measurement: focus on engagement (11:00-12:30)
11:00-11:10 – Policy context – Sebastien Godinot (WWF)
11:10-11:25 – Measurement – Dr. Julian Kolbel (University of Zurich)
11:25-11:40 – Hermes case study – Will Pomroy (Hermes Asset Management)
11:40-11:55 – Vote for Paris / Shareholder resolutions paper – David Cooke (2DII)
11:55-12:30 [Q&A]
12:30-15:00 – Break & Lunch
IV. EU Ecolabel for Financial Products (15:00-16:00)
15:00-15:15 – Ecolabel intro – Julian McLachlan (European Commission)
15:15-15:30 – Presentation of 2DII’s Ecolabel note – Stan Dupré (2DII)
15:30-16:00 – [Q&A]
Watch the webinar recording:
Note on the funders: This project has received funding from the European Union’s Life programme under grant agreement no. LIFE18 IPC/FR/000010 – AFFAP. The webinar reflects the organizers’ views only and the funders are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
Webinar
