Man Group, the largest listed hedge fund in the world, has partnered with the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) to conduct research into how climate impact is defined and measured in fixed income and equity portfolios.

While Man Group and CCSI’s research partnership will focus on identifying practical real-world gaps in methodologies and metrics concerning tradable instruments specifically; their articulation of key principles and standards hope to lay the groundwork for further scalable impact measurement across all asset classes of climate-solution-investing. The need for this work appears particularly acute in the high-emission sectors.

As part of their collaboration, Man Group and CCSI will identify existing industry challenges and develop solution-oriented frameworks for a path forward. They will then organise and facilitate a symposium workshop to solicit feedback from like-minded financial institutions, experts, standard setters, and Columbia faculty. The symposium will foster engaging discussions and debate surrounding the research findings and framework, which Man Group and CCSI will outline in a joint white paper on the agreed implementation methodology to ensure climate impact is achieved.

“The investment industry plays an important role to facilitate a thoughtful and rapid transition to a net-zero greenhouse gas economy,” said Robert Furdak, Chief Investment Officer for Responsible Investment at Man Group. “There has been increased issuance of green bonds and significant investment in decarbonisation technologies, however the impact of these efforts is undermined by inconsistent definitions, metrics, and measurement. Our joint research with the academic experts at CCSI will aim to produce a more refined decarbonisation framework, which will bring rigour and greater standardisation when calculating the climate impact of public market securities.”