Shareholder engagement in the media
Die Klimakapitalisten
In July 2023, SfC and its Swiss member Inyova (as well as BKC and GLS Investments) were featured in the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel.
“Greenwashing scandals have shaken confidence in sustainable investing. In addition, US funds have been pulling their money out of green investments since they came under attack from the right. A new activist scene is now taking up the fight against climate change via the stock market”, wrote Der Spiegel.
“Andreas von Angerer is Head of Sustainability at Inyova. The Zurich-based start-up began in 2017 with the aim of exerting direct pressure on companies via the stock market. And at the same time democratising the financial world. Angerer and his colleagues organise campaigns, mostly with the aim of pushing companies to adopt more climate-friendly business practices. Investors who register on the Inyova platform can indicate which sustainability goals are particularly important to them. And cast their vote via app at general meetings. This special form of impact investing is called “active ownership”.
“In spring 2022, Inyova pushed for a more ambitious climate policy at the Munich car manufacturer BMW. Inyova tried – albeit unsuccessfully – to get its own candidate for the supervisory board. Since last winter, Inyova has also been putting pressure on the French advertising company Publicis to reduce its campaigns for oil companies such as Total Energies. Angerer and his fellow campaigners wrote letters, submitted questions to the general meeting and finally appeared at the shareholders’ meeting. Publicis has since entered into a dialogue with the climate activists.”
“With funds under management of around 230 million euros, however, Inyova is a small fish. That is why the Swiss allied themselves with other activist investors, such as the “Shareholders for Change” network. Its members include the Bank für Kirche und Caritas, GLS Investments and a good dozen other European asset managers.”
Unleashing the Potential of Impact Measurement in Listed Equities
In a recent blog post, our members Friends Provident Foundation and Wheb Asset Management highlight the role of asset managers in measuring the impact in listed equities.
With impact investing becoming increasingly popular, to deliver impact by investing in listed equities is now seen not just possible, but also increasingly important to investors. In listed equities, positive impact can be generated both by the investee company and by the investors.
For this reason it is fundamental to develop a transparent and robust way to measure the impact and to drive change. Asset managers, supported by their asset owner clients, could and should play an important role. This blog post sets a foundation for impact measurement and explores initial steps that asset managers can take on their impact measurement journey.
Photo: Kane Reinholdtsen, Unsplash