Impact investor KBIGI welcomes Moynihan-led campaign to bring common standard to the alignment of investments with UN sustainable development goals
News release, Tuesday 21st January 2020
IMPACT INVESTOR KBIGI WELCOMES MOYNIHAN-LED CAMPAIGN TO BRING COMMON STANDARD
TO THE ALIGNMENT OF INVESTMENTS WITH UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
“We must develop a standard set of non-financial reporting standards and metrics, covering not just Impact,
but carbon footprint, water footprint and impact on the planet’s natural capital”
Specialist asset management firm KBI Global Investors (‘KBIGI’) has been to the forefront of the industry in developing a methodology to measure the extent to which its portfolios are supporting the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (‘SDGs’). Today it responded to calls from Brian Moynihan, Chief Executive of Bank of America for asset managers to standardise the way in which they measure the extent to which investment funds and strategies are aligned with the UN’s sustainable development goals. Moynihan is spearheading a campaign, to be launched formally at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos next week¹. As part of the campaign, the World’s four largest accounting groups have been asked to create standard metrics for a separate SDG-related theme – governance, human capital, prosperity and environment.
The Dublin-based manager aligned its investment strategies with the SDGs from their inception, and with growing numbers of investors with an interest in Responsible Investing looking to achieve Impact through public equities, the firm announced in March almost two years ago that it had quantified the revenue impact of constituent holdings in each of its Natural Resource strategies to the SDGs, introducing its Revenue Aligned Score System (‘RASS’) system – this to help them better understand how their investments are helping to achieve environmental and social goals. It remains one of a very small number of managers with this capability and publishes the RASS scores for each of its Natural Resource strategies on an annual basis.
Commenting on the Moynihan-led initiative², Eoin Fahy, Head of Responsible Investing at KBIGI said, “Notwithstanding having developed our own methodology, we warmly welcome the efforts of Brian Moynihan and others to develop a standardised measurement system, as clearly this would be very helpful to investors, to the companies in which they invest, and (most importantly) to the environment and society. Just as we have a standard set of financial reporting and accounting standards for companies, we must develop a standard set of non-financial reporting standards and metrics, covering not just Impact, but also carbon footprint, water footprint, impact on the planet’s natural capital and so forth. While this is not something that can be done quickly or easily, it inevitably needs to be done, and the sooner the better!
This significant initiative involves the detailed classification of all revenues of the companies held in each portfolio, determining whether the activity from which those revenues arise is contributing, positively or negatively, to one or more of the SDGs.
“Rather than having an anecdotal sense that investments in our strategies contribute to the achievement of the SDGs, we have been able to quantify the Impact of our investments in a replicable and transparent methodology.”
– ENDS –
¹ https://on.ft.com/2u8bZ7f
² https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2019-12-20/bank-of-america-ceo-brian-moynihan-on-standardizing-esg-measures-video
IMPACT INVESTOR KBIGI WELCOMES MOYNIHAN LED CAMPAIGN TO BRING A COMMON STANDARD../2
Journalists seeking further information or who would like to speak with Eoin Fahy should contact:
Gordon Puckey
Phoenix Financial PR
+44 7799 767 468
gordon@phoenixfinancialpr.co.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. KBI Global Investors and Natural Resource strategies
One of the firm’s principal goals is to be first to market with value-adding investment themes of the future. In the late 1990s, KBIGI was amongst the earliest investors to recognise the inherent source of alpha (the active return on an investment) from investing in companies providing solutions to sustainability challenges related to the provision of food, energy, water and the mitigation of and adaptation to the impacts of climate change.
Having identified a compelling clear need for investment in companies providing solutions to the global shortages of clean water and energy, the firm first launched strategies in these areas in 2000. Building up its team and intellectual capital in these themes, KBIGI added a climate change strategy in 2007, a sustainable impact agribusiness (food) strategy in 2008 and a sustainable impact infrastructure strategy in 2017.
2. About KBI Global Investors (‘KBIGI’)
Established in 1980, KBI Global Investors is a specialist institutional asset management boutique, offering a range of Global Equities and Natural Resources strategies. The firm manages assets for a broad range of clients – public and corporate pension schemes, sub-advisory investors, foundations and endowments, wealth managers, private banks and investment intermediaries included. KBIGI enjoys a global client base and today holds mandates in the UK, Europe, North America and Asia as well as for some of Ireland’s largest and best-known corporations. Part of Amundi, the firm is headquartered in Dublin, with additional offices in Boston, Massachusetts.
KBIGI boasts a track record of delivering consistent and outstanding risk-adjusted investment performance over the longer term, its highly experienced investment team today managing €12bn. (This is the combined AUM of KBI Global Investors Ltd and KBI Global Investors (North America) Ltd as at 31st December 2019).
The firm is headed by CEO Sean Hawkshaw, with members of the KBIGI team holding 12.5% of the equity in the firm.
www.kbiglobalinvestors.com
3. Disclaimers
KBI Global Investors Ltd is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland and subject to limited regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK. Details about the extent of our regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority are available from us on request. KBI Global Investors (North America) Ltd is a registered investment adviser with the SEC and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. KBI Global Investors (North America) Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of KBI Global Investors Ltd. ‘KBI Global Investors’ or ‘KBIGI’ refer to KBI Global Investors Ltd and KBI Global Investors (North America) Ltd.
IMPACT INVESTOR KBIGI WELCOMES MOYNIHAN LED CAMPAIGN TO BRING A COMMON STANDARD../3
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