Citywire: The Selection Show
We go on-the-ground to hear first-hand what top selectors and managers are focusing on.
Let's Talk About ESG Ep.22: Grilling auditors on climate
Auditors have an important part to play in the fight against climate change and need to adjust their reporting requirements to reflect that. This is according to Natasha Landell-Mills, head of stewardship and partner at Sarasin & Partners, who said this is one of the reasons why the asset manager…
Future Thinking S3 Ep3. – How contrarian thinking can give Europe an ESG edge
‘The US is bloody good at tech, and Europe’s bloody good at ESG’. Strong words from arch contrarian James Sym, who was the latest guest on Citywire Selector’s Future Thinking podcast. Sym, who swapped Schroders for River & Mercantile at the start of 2021, operates with a Europe ex-UK mindset…
Let’s Talk About ESG: The great SFDR migration
A number of firms have reclassified their Article 8 funds into Article 9 strategies this year, but such transitions shouldn’t always be a red flag for investors. That’s according to Neill Blanks, research director at advisory firm MainStreet Partners, who said some companies with long-standing ESG expertise originally made assumptions…
Future Thinking S3 Ep2. – On the frontlines of the fight against food waste
What can investors do to both limit food waste and benefit from the companies at the forefront of this particular fight? Jeneiv Shah is among those at the forefront of the battle to keep healthy produce out of our bins. In the latest episode of Future Thinking, Shah, who co-runs…
EM Insider – Ep.16 Why the appetite for EM corporates is cooling
Has the time finally come for emerging markets’ sovereign debt to outshine its corporate equivalent? Raphael Kassin thinks so, but he is unsure many market participants have properly picked up on such a pivotal moment. Kassin, who is now head of emerging markets hard currency debt at Itaú Asset Management,…
Let's Talk About ESG Ep.20: Why Greenpeace lawsuit doesn’t change Volkswagen case
Greenpeace Germany has filed a lawsuit against Volkswagen for not meeting 1.5 degrees warming scenario, however the firm’s electrification efforts might be more important than its misalignment with net-zero targets. This is according to Henrik Pontzen, head of ESG at Union Investment, who said they are still backing the company…
Future Thinking S3 Ep.1: The trendspotter’s survival guide
Alex Gunz has made it his business to understand how trends play out and which thematic concepts actually have long-term viability. In this first episode of the third series of Future Thinking, the Heptagon Capital manager outlines what it takes to tackle thematics without getting overawed by marketing and media…
Let’s Talk About COP: This is not just about renewables
Investors can’t reduce decarbonisation discussions to investment in renewables, as some vital economic sectors need to be set on the right path. This is according to Wim Van Hyfte, global head of ESG investments and research at Candriam, who said tackling fossil fuels will have a massive knock-on effect on…
Let's Talk About COP: separating winners from losers
Although specific areas like coal-fired power generation will be under fire during the COP26 conference, asset managers have to start thinking about the impact of climate change on their overall portfolio. Andrew Howard, global head of sustainable investment at Schroders, says that instead of focusing on the types of assets…
Let's Talk About COP: climate summit and EU taxonomy face similar challenges
The COP26 climate conference taking place in Glasgow is only a month away and investors have both high hopes and reservations about its outcomes. Citywire Selector is temporarily rebranding Let's Talk About ESG as Let's Talk About COP, to find out more about asset managers’ expectations and the impact the…
EM Insider – Ep. 15 End-of-summer bumper episode
China’s corporate governance is shifting into unknown areas. Brazil is stuck between a political rock and a hard place. Argentina is offering up welfare reform to get its latest government through some tricky mid-terms. It can only mean it’s time for our EM Insider to review the latest goings on…
Alpha Female Report 2021: firms need to stay flexible to improve results
As part of this special edition of Citywrie Selector podcast, head of ESG and cross-border research Nisha Long and the founder of the 100% Club Deborah Gilshan discuss some of the biggest findings and where they see the asset managers' policies on gender moving next.
Let's Talk About ESG Ep.16: What higher carbon prices mean for equity valuations
If carbon prices were to reach $75-per-tonne of CO2 emissions, even ESG-screened global equity indices will not immune from the fall in valuations. That is a scenario modelled by the team led by Nikesh Patel, head of investment strategy at Kempen, who calculated that global equity valuations could decline on…
Succession, market steroids and socialists: Citywire Selector Meets… Edouard Carmignac
Few fund managers have built billion-dollar empires and shared a stage with likes of The Rolling Stones, but Edouard Carmignac isn’t like most managers. In this extended interview with Citywire Selector, Edouard talks through the intricacies of setting up as a ‘one-man-show’ in the 1980s and how he would struggle…
Let's Talk About ESG Ep.15: why it's time to focus on a just transition
There is no denying that firms need to increase their decarbonisation efforts, but they should also be mindful of their workforce and what the transition might mean for job security. In this podcast Ashley Hamilton Claxton, head of responsible investment at Royal London Asset Management, discusses how the asset manager…
Future Thinking S2 Ep.10: Do fund managers really fear performance coaching?
Chess players. Professional sportsmen. Opera singers. All of these disciplines require ongoing training and coaching, so why should the world of fund management be any different? One person trying to bridge this gap is Josh Jacobson, chief operating officer for equities at UK boutique Cheyne Capital. Jacobson has zeroed in…
Future Thinking S2 Ep.9: ‘ETFs are the perfect asset class for women’
Thematic offerings are becoming more and more crucial in the world of ETFs, as providers seek innovative ways to gain traction, but those that can specifically cater to female investor needs stand to win big. That is according to Roxane Sanguinetti, head of fixed income and investor relations at ETF…
Future Thinking S2 Ep.8: Time to really take CEOs to task over ethics
Corporate boards need a major overhaul and chief executives need to be taken to task over what they are really achieving when it comes to ethics and improvement, or they should be hastily removed. That is according to economist and author Dambisa Moyo, who joined Citywire Selector for of the…
Why Inclusion? Ep.6: integrating diverse communities with smart-city infrastructure investments
In this new episode of Why Inclusion?, investment director Phoebe Smith delves into the various ways infrastructure can be inclusive for all communities. The Whitehelm Capital’s investment director shares investment ideas that the team implemented with the Whitehelm Capital smart-city infrastructure fund, which was launched in 2018. Smith also argues…
EM Insider – Ep.14 Why Lula’s revival could represent a second ‘trade of a lifetime’
‘Everything was going well until one day something happened’. The old foreign correspondent maxim has never been more relevant to the emerging market than it is today, according to EM debt expert Raphael Kassin. On the latest episode of EM Insider, Kassin talks through the breaking situation in Belarus, the…