Qontigo, a portfolio management and index service provider, has announced an exclusive partnership with the International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF) under the Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE) to develop sustainable investment products with Chinese characteristics, as reported by Eastmoney on March 1. The collaboration will be based on IIGF’s global ESG database and the research of Chinese companies’ ESG-related fixed incomes and equities. Through the collaboration, Qontigo will integrate ESG data from IIGF into its product portfolio construction and risk management software, namely Axioma, and develop a new index called STOXX. IIGF’s ESG research and data of China can provide Qontigo and its clients with a profound and detailed analysis of evaluation objects, so as to help clients understand the risks and performances of large international enterprises in global market operations.

In global markets, the scale of assets managed by the special strategy of sustainable investment has increased rapidly, without a sign of slowing down. According to data from Broadridge and Simfund, it is assumed that the total asset management scale of global ESG mutual funds and ETFs will grow at an average annual rate of 5% from 2019 to 2028. In the first half of 2020, the turnover of sustainable investment ETFs traded in the US accounted for more than 50% of the total turnover of ETFs.

Although compared with the international market, China’s ESG investment is still in its infancy period, some relevant services such as rating, index, data, and proxy voting show a trend of professional development. Since 2016, IIGF has provided consulting services for domestic and international enterprises, including but not limited to green credits, green bonds, carbon trading, and risk assessment. According to the China Alliance of Social Value Investment, as of November 30, 2020, the total scale of domestic sustainable investment funds reached RMB117.236bn, an increase of 58.40% compared with that by December 31, 2019; the number of sustainable investment funds reached 124 units, rising 11.71% from the year prior.

Sources:

http://finance.eastmoney.com/a/202103011825095819.html

https://www.blackrock.com/cn/insights/sustainable-investing

https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/insights/blackrock-investment-institute/publications/sustainable-investing-is-the-answer

https://finance.sina.com.cn/stock/stockptd/2020-12-20/doc-iiznctke7538478.shtml