Discusses the potential of digital financial services (DFS) to reduce poverty and promote economic growth. Analyses DFS role in financial inclusion within households and emerging markets and developing economies. Examines constraints of regulations and frameworks and provides case studies from countries that have enabled DFS in their economy.

This report identifies drivers of change within the tobacco industry and the potential risk factors that may arise as a result. The report conducts a scenario analysis that maps out three potential outcomes for the industry and the relative impact on the share price of the world’s largest tobacco companies.

This guide provides a comprehensive tool for engaging food and beverage companies on labour standards. It incorporates learnings from collaborative investor-company engagement focused on supply chain reporting and third-party resources. Outlining seven expectations for investors to focus on supported by relevant resources and case studies.

This report aims to promote strategies for including environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria in investment decisions within fixed income. It provides an overview on sustainable investing in fixed income across five core areas building on research, practical experiences and a literature review to inform findings.

BlackRock considers four key areas for environmental, social and governance (ESG) in fixed income: sustainable building blocks such as ESG indexes, a lens for considering the sustainability of government bond issuers, the financial relevance/materiality of ESG characteristics across different industries, and how to build sustainable portfolios using fixed income.

This report describes how Cornerstone Capital's Access Impact Framework enables investors to invest in opportunities to achieve gender equality and empowerment of girls, aligning with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5.

Banks are affected by climate change and have the ability to make an impact through their support and finance of certain industries. Banks must start setting precedent for ambitious climate disclosure. This paper provides recommendations on how banks can align their business models with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The report provides an explanation of the ten reform areas included in the European Commission Action Plan (2018), as well as possible impacts for investors. Four of these actions: taxonomy, disclosure and duties, benchmarks and investment advice were submitted as regulatory proposals to the European Parliament in 2018.

An overview of data by the Climate Bonds Initiative, illustrating market growth in ASEAN’s green, sustainable bond, and loan markets. ASEAN is an intergovernmental organisation integrating economic, educational, and sociocultural integration. ASEAN's issuance grew 98% in 2019 and makes up 3% of the global total.

A critical review and gap analysis of the pension industry’s positioning in regard to the recommendations from the Task Force on Climate-related Disclosures. The review includes a rating index of the world’s 100 largest public pension funds with rankings linked to both their approach and engagement.

This report introduces the investment strategies available to investors in their efforts to align their portfolios with a lower carbon, more climate-resilient economy. The guide focuses on three main areas for investor action: climate-aligned investment opportunities, integration of climate-related risks and opportunities into investment processes, and phasing out investment in thermal coal.

Based on research conducted on the performance of nearly 11,000 mutual funds from 2004 to 2018, Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investment finds no statistically significant difference in returns between sustainable funds and traditional funds. However, sustainable funds demonstrated 20% lower downside risk than traditional funds.

This paper shares key ESG integration trends that Russell Investments has found in the fixed income market. It is based off observations derived from their 2019 Annual ESG Manager Survey and discussions with fixed income market practitioners looking at ESG considerations and implementations in their investment process.

This report introduces the Sustainability-Linked Bond (SLB) Principles and provides guidelines for structural features, disclosure and reporting, to bring integrity into the SLB market. The guide is intended for market participants and designed to drive the provision of information to increase capital allocation in these instruments.

This report is an expanded research study on a previous study conducted by Barclays. It provides deep insight into the relationship between environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and their influence on credit portfolio performance. In particular, looking at the effect of ESG on euro-denominated and US investment grade and high-yield bond markets.

This guide created by BMO Global Asset Management shows how and why they incorporate ESG factors and stewardship activities into their corporate fixed income investments and engagement approach. The guide also looks at how the growing sustainable bonds market is enabling fixed income investors to align investments with sustainability goals.