Ogier Global is launching a new online product, ESG Align, designed to help global asset managers keep pace with environmental, social and governance (ESG) themes, terminology and regulatory requirements.
The product, which was created by the Sustainable Investment Consulting team, is in response to increased client demand for ESG expertise among asset managers.
ESG Align launches just as the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) released its consultation conclusions on the management and disclosure of climate-related risks by fund managers on 20 August 2021.
It is designed to elevate managers’ understanding of climate-related risk in portfolio management and provide a useful compliance check against the new SFC requirements.
It includes a series of training and assessment tools as well as a flexible, web-based training and assessment module – Understanding Risk.
Available from September, the 60-minute training course is aimed at asset managers across all jurisdictions and will provide guidance on how they can integrate climate metrics into their risk management processes and give real life examples of ESG strategy integration.
Leonie Kelly, Director – Head of Ogier Global’s Sustainable Investment Consulting, says, “Regardless of whether investors tilt towards environmental or social objectives, the impact of climate change cannot be ignored. Addressing climate change, alongside other ESG issues, will only become more dominant in the market. This has become evident with increased ESG regulation around the world, including recently in Hong Kong.
“ESG Align has been designed to help asset managers all over the world and across all asset classes improve their understanding of climate-risk and take the necessary actions to get climate ready – including helping managers in Hong Kong with interpreting the SFC Fund Manager Code of Conduct (FMCC) climate-related regulations.”
“It is critical for managers in all locations to be ahead of client and regulatory developments,” adds Leonie, who has more than 12 years of experience working at the forefront of sustainable finance. “We developed ESG Align with this challenge in mind – enabling them to assess their compliance requirements and set out actions to manage them. It is designed to empower managers with knowledge and importantly provides practical case studies of climate-risk investment management across strategies.”
©Markets Media Europe 2021
