All Guest Viewpoint articles
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Trump’s SEC pick points to reduced proxy power for shareholders
With Paul Aktins as chair, the US regulator can be expected to roll back policies supporting ESG goals, according to lawyers at Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Stewardship deserves a return to first principles
As the UK’s Financial Reporting Council consults on updates to the country’s Stewardship Code, Hans-Christoph Hirt, trustee director of the Hermes Group Pension Scheme, says it’s time for the investment industry to have an open conversation about the objectives of stewardship
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Let’s talk about responsible investment due diligence
Eilidh Wagstaff, senior specialist for multi-asset in the Principles for Responsible Investment’s (PRI) investor guidance team, takes stock of what’s working and what isn’t in responsible investment due diligence
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Opinion Pieces
Will pensions save the savings and investments union?
One only needs to glance over the first page of the recent Draghi report on European competitiveness to find that the European economy is in crisis.
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Pension funds must be at the centre of the UK investment debate
Long-term net zero delivery success demands a pro-investment, co-investment mindset from all sides
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Opinion Pieces
Europe’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive is an opportunity, not a threat
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is often mentioned as one of the examples of the European Commission’s excessive zeal when working to implement the Green Deal. It is singled out as an example of overregulation that negatively impacts the competitiveness of European corporations, creates barriers to accessing the EU market and is costly to implement.
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: From fragmentation to integration
Over the past few decades, Europe’s financial system has grown in size and complexity but remains largely bank-centric compared with more market-oriented systems
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Analysis
Viewpoint: Opportunities for investing in UK economic growth is aligned with trustee’s fiduciary duty
NEST sees no conflict between a master trust’s fiduciary responsibilities to its members and investment in the companies and infrastructure of the UK
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Why and how investors can tackle deforestation by engaging banks
Banks are uniquely placed to tackle deforestation via their financing decisions and engagements, says IIGCC CEO Stephanie Pfeifer
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: How EU policymakers can help plug Europe’s pension gaps
Petra Hielkema, EIOPA’s chair, sets out how the authority and EU policymakers can build an ecosystem capable of plugging the substantial pension gaps Europe is facing
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Are sustainability standards a distraction?
The debate about standardised reporting of Scope 3 emissions loses sight of an important point about the need for judgment, says Iancu Daramus
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Time to push back against the ‘net zero agenda’
It is more useful to think of climate change and decarbonisation as a ‘hyperobject’, says Iancu Daramus
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: When the climate bill comes, how much should we tip?
The rhetoric around ‘tipping points’ is often misunderstood, says Iancu Daramus
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Climate scenarios – are they overcooked?
The progress made in reining in emissions is not just blah-blah-blah, says Iancu Daramus
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Opinion Pieces
The buyout pendulum starts to swing back to the DB norm
Vogue fashion magazine reports that flared trousers and mullets are back after a 50-year absence. They were not a good look even then, but fashion has its own drivers which do not necessarily involve good taste or even practicalities.
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Investors urged to join call for global action on AMR
Currently responsible for more than one million deaths a year, antimicrobial resistance has been declared as one of the top 10 threats to human health
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: The cost of caution
In the world of sustainable finance policy, ‘billions to trillions’ has become the rallying cry of efforts to finance the UN’s SDGs and tackle climate change
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Opinion Pieces
The art and science of investor collaboration in the quest for effective stewardship
In the evolving landscape of sustainable investment strategies, the significance of engagement has become more pronounced in recent years. Traditionally seen as supplementary to investment processes, stewardship has transformed into an indispensable tool for achieving meaningful environmental and social change.
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Solving Europe’s capital markets puzzle
The crucial role of capital markets has recently figured on top of several high-level reports on Europe’s economic priorities
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Opinion Pieces
Striking the right balance on pension funds and fiduciary duty
Pension fund investment principles, strategies and decision-making have all become more complex in the wake of the growth of sustainability factors in general and climate change in particular. This has made the interpretation and practice of trustee ‘fiduciary duties’ more vexed and challenging than ever. A recent review of fiduciary duties in the UK by the Financial Markets Law Committee (FMLC) put it this way: “It is sometimes easier to state the duties than it is to apply them.”