Industry Voice: There is no Planet B
Chris Wagstaff, Head of Pensions and Investment Education at Columbia Threadneedle Investments provides insight into how asset owners and asset managers should be responding to climate change.
Climate change is the greatest ever systemic risk to confront humanity. From a purely asset manager and institutional asset owner perspective, a failure by all stakeholders to act more decisively in stemming the myriad sources of GHG emissions, the financing of carbon emitting technologies and in seeking to change industry, company and individual behaviours could result in a deeply impaired economic and financial system. This would, in turn, severely inhibit the ability of asset managers to generate and asset owners to derive sustainable investment returns and expose asset owners to unacceptably high and largely unmanageable risks.
While the enormity of the challenge ahead cannot be underestimated, asset managers and institutional asset owners have a significant, potentially game changing, influence in transitioning the world to a low carbon future, by collectively engaging with policymakers and regulators and in exercising responsible stewardship over companies. In fact, to say that asset managers and asset owners are not only very well positioned to be the catalyst for major transformative change, but that they have the potential to lead the world in addressing humanity's greatest systemic challenge to date, is no exaggeration. Therefore, this paper looks at how asset owners and asset managers, whether independently of or in line with policymaker or regulatory initiatives, should be and have been responding to, and indeed pre-empting, the potentially gargantuan, game changing systemic risks posed by climate change.
Important information: For use by Professional and/or Qualified Investors only (not to be used with or passed on to retail clients). Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of investments and any income is not guaranteed and can go down as well as up and may be affected by exchange rate fluctuations. This means that an investor may not get back the amount invested. Your capital is at risk. This material is for information only and does not constitute an offer or solicitation of an order to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments, or to provide investment advice or services. The analysis included in this document has been produced by Columbia Threadneedle Investments for its own investment management activities, may have been acted upon prior to publication and is made available here incidentally. Any opinions expressed are made as at the date of publication but are subject to change without notice and should not be seen as investment advice. Information obtained from external sources is believed to be reliable but its accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed. The mention of any specific shares or bonds should not be taken as a recommendation to deal. Columbia Threadneedle Investments does not give any investment advice. If you are in doubt about the suitability of any investment, you should speak to your financial adviser. This document includes forward looking statements, including projections of future economic and financial conditions. None of Columbia Threadneedle Investments, its directors, officers or employees make any representation, warranty, guaranty, or other assurance that any of these forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. This document is distributed by Columbia Threadneedle Investments (ME) Limited, which is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). For Distributors: This document is intended to provide distributors' with information about Group products and services and is not for further distribution. For Institutional Clients: The information in this document is not intended as financial advice and is only intended for persons with appropriate investment knowledge and who meet the regulatory criteria to be classified as a Professional Client or Market Counterparties and no other Person should act upon it. Issued by Threadneedle Asset Management Limited. Registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 573204, Cannon Place, 78 Cannon Street, London EC4N 6AG, United Kingdom. Authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority. Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies
