Articles about “Sustainability”
The ethical business case: What is the case for ESG?
Climate protection has long since arrived in the financial industry. Even though there has recently been political headwind for ESG in some countries, the topic remains important for investors. This is because taking sustainability factors into account makes sense for companies in a number of ways. You can find out more about this in the article.
News from the world of active ownership: the Voting & Engagement Report 2023 is here!
The Voting & Engagement Report 2023 provides interesting insights into our voting behavior and our corporate dialogues over the past year. In terms of engagement in particular, there are some new companies with which we are actively engaging to promote greater sustainability.
How do climate leaders find their way into our fixed-income portfolios?
Sustainability factors are actively integrated into the investment process in our bond portfolios. This ensures that climate risks are minimized and climate opportunities are actively seized in our corporate bond funds. Fund manager Matthias Hauser explains exactly how this works.
Annual General Meetings (AGMs) 2024: dispute about shareholder rights
We also supported numerous shareholder motions during this year’s Annual General Meeting season. However, there were also occasional disagreements regarding motions and fundamental shareholder rights.
The miracle forest and why we need to protect it
The forest ecosystem is not only an important carbon store, but also a habitat for a variety of plants and creatures. In this interview, Robert Pröll, farmer, national park ranger, and speaker at this year’s sustainability conference, explains why we need to protect the “miracle of the forest” more than ever in the fight against the climate crisis.
Sustainable finance initiatives – a jumble of letters or effective multi-stakeholder approaches?
Sustainable finance is a dynamic process that aims to make the financial system sustainable. In his guest article, Michael Schmidt, member of the Sustainable Finance Advisory Board of the German Federal Government, explains why the many different initiatives on the topic of sustainable finance are needed and which three points are necessary for the sustainable transformation of our financial system.
Climate Score: How we can identify sustainable leaders and laggards
In order to further improve sustainable company analysis, the Responsible Investments team at Erste Asset Management developed the Climate Score last year. The score combines various environmental data to identify the sustainable leaders and laggards in each economic sector. Read the blog post to find out how the score works and what it can be used for.
The new jumper and climate change: climate risks in the textile industry
The booming fashion industry is also confronted with a wide range of challenges due to climate change. These could prompt the entire industry to rethink.
Climate risks: Is climate change that bad?
This year’s September went down as the warmest in measurement history. Especially in our regions, it was a welcome extension of the summer for many. However, the warmer temperatures clearly show us the consequences of climate change. The risks this entails for the economy and companies and how we take these into account in our investment processes is the topic of our new ESGenius Letter.
Climate Score? Oh please, not another ESG factor!
Climate risks are also an important topic for investors. A look at the climate-readiness of companies can minimise potential risk factors.
Erste Group publishes first Climate Report
In the Climate Report, published for the first time this year, Erste Group reports on progress, targets and measures towards a net-zero emissions portfolio by 2050 and net-zero operations by 2030. Climate risks and their impacts are also a topic.
Sustainable investments: fad or long-term trend?
With a view to the Ukraine war, the multiple regions of crisis or the extreme inflation, one would be forgiven for thinking that sustainability issues were taking a back seat when it came to investing. Gerold Permoser, Chief Investment Officer of Erste Asset Management, claims that this is not the case and that there is a lot of potential for investors. In a recent press talk, he and Heinz Bednar, CEO, presented five key drivers for ESG investments.
Sustainability and biodiversity: the strategy of voestalpine
Climate and environmental protection are central elements of voestalpine’s sustainability strategy. The conservation-minded use of resources such as raw materials and energy along the entire production chain has been firmly anchored within the group for years. Minimising the environmental impact of processes and products also plays a central role, as Stefan Schuster, Group Environmental Management at voestalpine AG, writes in his guest article.
A Tale of Two Companies: Bayer’s Biodiversity Conundrum with Monsanto
In 2018, Bayer acquired the US agrochemical and agricultural chemicals company Monsanto. However, the deal, valued at around USD 64 billion, raised a number of questions. As a result of the merger, Bayer has since found itself responsible for a number of controversial practices of the US company. This is associated not only with sustainability risks but also with a potential risk of billions through various class actions.
Turnaround in the Energy Market: Power Companies Raise Forecasts, Oil Companies’ Profits Drop
The decline in crude oil prices has led to a trend reversal in the energy market this year: while many power companies have recently raised their profit forecasts, the major oil companies suffered massively from the recent drop in crude oil prices. Meanwhile, in the effort to reach climate targets, the trend toward renewable energies continues unabate
Biodiversity – nature’s natural intelligence
The biodiversity crisis goes hand in hand with the loss of ecosystems and thus threatens our everyday life on earth. At the same time, despite all the crisis, we must not lose sight of the miracle of nature. Read more in the lead article of our new ESGenius Letter on the topic of “Biodiversity”.
Biodiversity: interview with ecologist Franz Essl
Franz Essl is an ecologist and a recognised expert on biodiversity and the protection of species diversity. In addition, he was named Scientist of the Year 2022 by the Club of Education and Science Journalists last year. In this interview, he explains what the term biodiversity encompasses and why politics and business must finally act to stop the loss of biodiversity.
Why biodiversity is on your agenda!
The biodiversity of our planet provides the basis for life and the economy. The crisis facing global biodiversity puts quality of life and health at risk, as well as prosperity and economic development. Companies can also act and take measures. After all, biodiversity is on everyone’s agenda.
Demystifying the greenness of funds
The taxonomy alignment of a fund is comparable to the nutritional information of food. Investors can thus find out transparently to what extent a fund invests in “green activities”. Find out more about taxonomy alignment and how we manage it in our funds in the blog post by Analyst Hebing Dong.
Voting – Impacting companies through voting rights?
By submitting shareholder proposals at annual general meetings and exercising voting rights, investors can lobby companies to take measures in the direction of social responsibility, environmental protection or better transparency. In the previous year, Erste AM exercised its voting rights at 495 companies. In the blog post, we show what this entails using three examples.
How our ESGenius App helps us to track engagements
With our self-developed “ESGenius” App, we can track and document our ESG activities such as engagements. Two current examples show how the app helps us improve our ESG performance.
The carbon footprint and how we measure it
Since 2018, Erste Asset Management calculates the carbon footprint of the entire fund range. Find out how we go about the calculation and how our funds compare to the overall market in the blog post.
A sustainable story of success
In July, the ERSTE RESPONSIBLE STOCK GLOBAL fund will celebrate its 20th anniversary. During its history so far, the fund has achieved a highly successful performance while the world of sustainable investments has changed fundamentally.
Microfinance defies international capital markets in 2022
The microfinance market also faced a variety of challenges in 2022. Despite the difficult environment, however, the global market continued to grow dynamically. The ERSTE RESPONSIBLE MICROFINANCE also developed positively in the previous year compared with the global equity and bond markets.
“Environmental themes offer potential for long-term growth phase“
Forbes Magazine ranked Clemens Klein, fund manager of ERSTE WWF STOCK ENVIRONMENT, as one of the top ten fund managers of the German-speaking region. In our interview, he talks about the investment strategy and philosophy of the fund.
Chatbot “Sustainable Investing”: The new expert on sustainability
With so much information and offers on sustainable investing, investors can easily lose track of what’s out there. Our new chatbot “Sustainable Investing” can help here and shed some light on the matter. In this article, we explain which questions the chatbot can answer and how to find it.
The topic of water in sustainable investing
Clean water is one of the most valuable and important resources on our planet. This is one of the reasons why ERSTE WWF STOCK ENVIRONMENT invests specifically in companies that help to reduce water consumption. In this article, we explain what role the topic of water plays in sustainable investment and how water risks are taken into account in the investment process.
What types of funds are there?
Actively managed funds and ETFs – what is the difference? Behind an actively managed fund there are always fund managers who influence the composition of the fund and actively look after the weighting of individual securities. Actively managed funds can therefore react to different market phases and are realigned by the fund managers if necessary. […]
Energy of the Future
There is no perfect solution to solve our energy problems in the long term, explains Walter Hatak, Head of Responsible Investments. But instead of burying our heads in the sand, we should be able to choose the best possible alternative, take the future into account in our planning, and learn from past mistakes.
Inflation Reduction Act: what’s next?
The Inflation Reduction Act is designed to get the US back on track in terms of climate protection. What will the law achieve and who could benefit from it? Senior Research Analyst Stefanie Schock addresses these questions in her article.
Hydrogen – a colour theory
Hydrogen has great potential as a carbon-free fuel, electricity storage or energy carrier and could play an important role in the energy transition. But not all hydrogen is the same, as Senior ESG Researcher Alexander Osojnik explains. There are certain differences depending on how it is produced, which makes the topic of hydrogen almost a color theory.
Sustainable and ethical line of Erste Asset Management funds awarded top marks
The sustainability and ethical fund family of Erste Asset Management received several awards from the Forum für Nachhaltige Geldanlagen e.V. (FNG) this year. All 16 funds submitted by Erste AM received the FNG seal, the quality standard for sustainable investment funds in German-speaking countries.
Club of Rome: “The biggest problem of our time is our inability to distinguish fiction from fact”
In 1972, the Club of Rome published its first analysis of the “Limits to Growth”. Fifty years later, the non-profit organisation asks in a book whether green growth is possible at all.
“Green Rush” – The Inflation Reduction Act
The Inflation Reduction Act recently passed by the US Senate is intended to get the USA back on track in terms of climate protection. By 2030, 369 billion US dollars are to flow into renewable energies through various channels.
YOU INVEST funds become sustainable – Questions and answers about the reorganization
Gerhard Beulig, Senior Fund Manager at Erste Asset Management, answers the most important questions about the reorganization of the YOU INVEST funds.
And this year’s Nobel Peace Prize goes to …?
The European taxonomy created uniform criteria for sustainable investments. Nuclear power was also classified as green under certain conditions. Read the ESGenius Letter on the topic of “Green nuclear power?”.
Saving multiple crises the right way
Companies and their stakeholders are needed to achieve the goal of an effective, science-based climate strategy with a sustainably oriented financial market that drives this transformation.
Our ESG partners’ view on nuclear energy and sustainability
The EU Commission announced that certain activities involving nuclear power and natural gas will be included in the EU taxonomy. Small Modular Reactors are seen as an investment opportunity. How are energy suppliers and the financial sector dealing with this?
Water risks in investment – more than just a drop in the bucket?
Drinking water is one of the earth’s limited resources. Water shortage can entail a variety of implications. On the occasion of World Water Day, Walter Hatak, Head of Responsible Investments at Erste Asset Management, analyzes the risks of water consumption.
Microfinance – making the world a slightly better place while earning money
Microfinance funds have become more popular with investors in recent years, complementing equities, bonds, real estate, precious metals, and commodities. Such funds invest in microloans that help people in emerging markets to secure their subsistence. At the same time, they pay a yield, as fund manager Martin Cech explains.
ESG: Too much of a good thing?
For a long time, the ESG sceptics could not really be heard in all the noise around the megatrend that sustainability has become in recent years across all sectors. There is hardly a corporate strategy in sight that does not bring up sustainability, hardly a lifestyle product that does not come with a planted tree pledge when you are buying it.
World Climate Conference COP26: Leverage needed for investments in climate protection
On the occasion of the climate conference in Glasgow, Erste Asset Management and the environmental protection organization WWF Austria draw attention to the urgency of quick decisions and huge climate protection investments.
A green label does not necessarily mean green on the inside
Funds marketing themselves as green investment do not always focus on companies that fight climate change, develop solar modules or recycle batteries. Instead, many of them look like traditional portfolios holding large tech companies – yet they wear green labels.
Green or Greenwashing?
In order to evaluate the sustainability of a company or a product, a large number of aspects have to be considered and additionally correlated with each other and placed in a broader context. Guest Commentary by Raphael Fink of Umweltzeichen Team at VKI.
Green, green shades of bonds
In recent years, we have seen dynamic growth emerging. It started with green bonds, which were then complemented by social bonds, sustainability bonds (a combination of environmental and social projects), and sustainability-linked bonds.
Stewardship vs. greenwashing
By integrating sustainable factors, we pursue social and environmental justice and have mechanisms and tools in place to avoid greenwashing. Our mission is also to align our sustainability approach with the investment needs of our clients to build a solid foundation for the future.
Greenwashing as risk, and how to avoid it
Many investors currently find it difficult to tell apart actually green companies from allegedly green ones. In this article, we are going to discuss the risk of greenwashing, and discuss what investors have to pay attention to and to what extent the new regulation by the EU (Taxonomy) can help to disclose greenwashing.
Greenwashing through lobbying?
In recent years, environmental and social issues were voted on at the annual general meetings of global companies. Increasingly, the focus was on more transparency regarding lobbying and political contributions.
European Forum Alpbach: Overcoming the Crisis with Energy Transition, Capital Markets Union and Digitalisation
“The Great Transformation”: This was this year’s Forum Alpbach’s overarching motto for the talks and panel discussions among the assembled top politicians, economic leaders and scientists from around the world. Partly on-site and partly online, between 18 August and 3 September a total of 4,134 participants from 62 countries discussed possible ways out of the corona pandemic crisis and global future scenarios.
Erste Asset Management pulls the plug on coal on 1 July
We are pulling the plug on coal, abstaining from investments in companies that operate in the fields of coal mining or the production of electricity or fuel from coal from 1 July 2021 onwards.