Swisscanto, the asset manager of the Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB), is using the Swiss Climate Scores and ESG reporting standards for pension funds for all its active and passive funds, and its asset management mandates.

The Federal Council has recommended financial institutions to apply the Swiss Climate Scores, used to measure whether investments are in line with the goal set by the Paris Agreement, to all investment products and asset management mandates.

This primarily relates to offers from asset managers, banks and insurance companies to their institutional and private customers at the point of sale, the government said.

The Swiss Climate Scores give an overview of the actual status of the funds with regard, for example, to greenhouse gas emissions, with one section focusing on the topic of “Transition to Net Zero”, ZKB said.

Key figures provide investors with information about, among other things, the CO2e intensity of a portfolio, or how exposed it is to fossil fuels, such as coal, according to ZKB. Investors also receive information about the dialogue between the companies and ZKB.

The Swiss Climate Scores and the ASIP ESG reporting standards contribute to improving transparency on investments, enabling users to compare products, and promoting investment decisions that contribute to achieving global climate goals, Fabio Pellizzari, head of ESG in asset management at ZKB, told IPE.

The pension fund association ASIP designed the reporting standards with the Swiss Asset Management Association (AMAS), Swiss Sustainable Finance, PPCmetrics, asset manager Avadis and KAICO Anstalt at the end of 2022.

Swisscanto’s ESG reports take into account additional metrics such as Scope 3 emissions and include various asset classes (corporate and government bonds, and real estate), on top of basic key figures, it said.

Pellizzari added: “The ASIP ESG reports help pension funds measure important sustainability metrics. Since these reports are standardised, this enables pension funds to check and compare portfolios, and asset managers, with regard to these key figures.”

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Luigi is IPE's Berlin-based DACH correspondent. His coverage includes regulation and the latest pensions and investments trends, and, being a native Italian, he also covers Italy’s pensions market. He has reported from Italy and Germany on international politics and business for European and US publications including USA Today, Bloomberg BNA and for the investigative magazine L’Espresso. He was previously Germany correspondent for Mergermarket covering M&A.View full Profile

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