GLG Partners, the US-listed asset manager, has engaged Mercer’s investment consulting business to examine if the perceived need to tackle issues around climate change and other major en
GLG Partners, the US-listed asset manager, has engaged Mercer’s investment consulting business to examine if the perceived need to tackle issues around climate change and other major environmental issues is resulting in a change in focus and approach for mainstream investing.
The study will examine the trends and drivers in industry practice and contain insights from Mercer’s own research and consulting experience.
Pierre Lagrange, co-founder and senior managing director of GLG, says: ‘We believe that environmental liabilities are already changing the economics of some industries and will affect most industries’ returns over the next ten years. Our view, which is supported by the McKinsey/Vattenfall report and work of the Carbon Mitigation Initiative at Princeton University, is that many of the necessary improvements can be realized with existing commercially available technologies, which raises the important question of how best to focus beyond the early VC, clean tech and other typical ‘SRI’ investments, to integrate environmental factors into profitable mainstream investing.’
Emma Hunt, the principal leading the project on behalf of Mercer, adds: ‘Many corners of the investment sector are incorporating environmental issues into their research, analysis and investment decisions. This is evident in the plethora of new products on the market and the increasingly widespread claim that environmental factors are being incorporated into investment processes. But is this really entering the mainstream? By undertaking an in-depth look of the actual penetration of environmental issues in the investment sector, we believe that we will be able to provide some valuable insights for both asset owners and asset managers on the current state of play.’
The study will examine public equity products in the institutional marketplace with a focus on Western Europe and North America. The results will be made available in autumn 2009.
