SSF has started the new year with a wide array of different activities, many of which were strongly based on the support of our members. Building on member input, we provided feedback on the IFC Operating Principles on Impact Management and on the usability of the proposed EU Taxonomy. Our members further play a key role in the SSF-coordinated investor engagement with index providers, in which we ask them to exclude controversial weapons producers from mainstream indices. In our recent publication on inspiring investment partnerships, we also build on know-how from our network and make it broadly available to the market.

Keeping an overview of the different initiatives is increasingly challenging, be it with regards to regulatory activities or to market initiatives. SSF will keep an eye on these developments and prepare concise interpretations of how they influence your work. Next on our list will be overviews on ways to measure carbon risks and on planned EU regulation.

One thing is clear: cooperation is key when acting in the fast moving sphere of sustainable finance. We look forward to further working with you on keeping Swiss finance fit for the future.

Kind regards,

Sabine Döbeli

CEO Swiss Sustainable Finance

SSF activities

Regulatory and market news

SSF and sustainable finance in the media

New members joining SSF

Join these events

New reports & studies

New SSF publication on partnerships

Open letter to Index Providers on Controversial Weapons Exclusion

The initiative gained strong support also thanks to its presence on the PRI Collaboration Platform and the publication in major finance media. First actions to start a dialogue on the issue with different index providers were taken in early February. For more information read the press release or visit the initiative landing page.

SSF partners with NCFA for launch event in Zurich

SSF participates in OECD conference in Paris

IFC Operating Principles consultation

SSF responds to the EU taxonomy draft

The EU’s Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance is seeking feedback on the first draft of the taxonomy. SSF, in consultation with its members, has provided consolidated feedback on the usability of the taxonomy. The taxonomy aims to develop a classification system for environmentally sustainable economic activities.

Read more about these and other SSF activities

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Swiss news

• The new WWF pension fund rating 2018/2019 revealed that several of the 20 largest Swiss pension funds have made progress regarding the sustainability aspects of their investments. However, few integrate ESG factors in a systematic manner.
• In the Swiss Parliament, the environmental, spatial planning and energy committee (ESPEC-S) of the Council of States has started discussing the revision of the CO2 law, after the National Council rejected it last December. A new set of proposals, which may forsee that more than half of the reducation targets must be achieved in Switzerland, is set to be on the agenda of the Council of States this June, the earliest.
• The Swiss Insurance Association (SIA) called for more standards and industry benchmarks in the form of a voluntary framework at their annual press conference on 31 January.
• The Canton of Basel-Stadt emitted a second green bond this January, after the successful emission of its first green bond in September 2018. The bond is set to finance environmentally sustainable construction projects.

International initiatives

• The Belgian Financial Sector Federation Febelfin has developed a quality standard for sustainable and socially responsible financial products. The quality standard also includes a label and can be viewed in full version here.
• The EU Commission published draft rules that amend acts under MIFID II, which would ensure that investment firms and insurance distributors consider sustainability topics when advising clients.
• This January saw the launch of the Asian Sustainable Finance Initiative. The new multi-stakeholder initiative based in Singapore aims to help shift Asia’s financial flows towards sustainable economic, social, and environmental outcomes.
• The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) released a statement setting out the importance of ESG for issuers when disclosing information material to investors’ decisions. IOSCO emphasized that although ESG matters are sometimes characterized as non-financial, they may have a material short- and long-term impact on the business operations of the issuers, as well as risks and returns for investors.
• Similarly, the International Organisation of Pension Supervisors (IOPS) published a draft version of guidelines on the integration of ESG factors in the investment and risk management of pension funds. In the guidelines, IOPS calls for ESG scenario testing and clearly refers to ESG factors as financial factors.
• Finally, the World Federation of Exchanges, the global industry group for exchanges and CCPs, has set ESG issues in market structure as a group priority for the year 2019.

Market trends

• S&P Global Ratings is adding a section on ESG issues to its corporate credit rating reports, expecting around 40% of the corporates it rates to be covered by the end of the year.
• The world’s first water risk index was launched by LIMEYARD, Equarius Risk Analytics and Thomas Schumann Capital in December 2018.
• Mission accomplished: The Dutch pension fund ABP announced that its divestment from tobacco and nuclear weapons has been completed as of January 2019.
• PG&E, the largest Californian power company, faces an impending bankruptcy in light of the overwhelming potential liability damages from the wildfires last fall. Strict liability laws in California means that power companies can be held liable for wildfires, and the company’s stock market value has plunged since September 2018.
• 1 trillion euro of assets held by European insurers may be vulnerable to climate risks, as the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) assessed in its latest risk survey.

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• 19 February 2019, NZZ, Sogar Hedge-Funds wollen mit Nachhaltigkeit mehr Rendite erzielen
• 14 February 2019, IPE, Index providers respond to controversial weapons campaign
• 13 February 2019, Expert Investor, Are you investing in controversial weapons?
• 12 February 2019, SRF4 News, Kontroverse Waffen sollen aus Aktienkörben raus (Radio interview with Sabine Döbeli)
• 12 February 2019, Ticino Finanza, Gli investori dicono non alle armi controverse
• 11 February 2019, The Wall Street Journal, Investment Group Calls on Indexes to Remove Makers of Controversial Weapons
• 11 February 2019, SRF Börse, Boom bei nachhaltigen Anlagen
• 4 February 2019, SRF ECO, Pensionskassen: Exklusives WWF-Rating
• 1 February 2019, Le Temps, Les assureurs suisses demandent une standardisation des investissements durables
• 28 January 2019, RTS Info, « Cest un tournant, les placements verts amènent plus de profits »
• 13 January 2019, Le Temps, L’investissement responsable est devenu incontournable
• 3 January 2019, punkt4, Kontroverse Waffenfirmen sollen raus aus den Standardindizes
• January special edition, Finanz und Wirtschaft, Sein oder Schein? (comment by Sabine Döbeli)

Visit our website for more articles and regular updates

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We are happy to welcome the following organisations to our network:

The full list of our members and network partners, now totalling 113, can be found on the SSF Website.

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Save the date for upcoming SSF events

• 21 March 2019, SSF and CFA, ESG Integration in Practice, Geneva
• 13 May 2019, SSF and City of Zurich, Nachhaltigkeit und technologischer Wandel – zwei Trends, eine Chance für den Finanzplatz Zürich?, Zurich
• 3 June 2019, SSF, Launch of 2019 Swiss Sustainable Investment Market Study, Zurich
• 4 June 2019, SSF, Launch of 2019 Swiss Sustainable Investment Market Study, Geneva
• 19 June 2019, SSF, Annual SSF Conference, Bern

More information to follow soon on the SSF website.

Other events

• 14 May 2019, Workshop Sustainable Finance, Vaduz
• 23 May 2019, Geneva Forum for Sustainable Investment, Geneva
• 23-24 May 2019, St. Gallen Forum for Management of Renewable Energies, St. Gallen
• 12-13 June 2019, TBLI Conference Europe 2019, Zurich.

Academic programmes and opportunities

• The Geneva School of Business Administration (HEG-GE) is offering a first Online Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Sustainable Finance. The course will start on 25 February.
• The University of Zurich’s executive training programme Sustainable Investing in Wealth Management programme will take place again from 13-14 June 2019.
• The PRI is accepting papers on responsible investments for the PRI Academic Network Conference in September 2019. The submission deadline is 5 April 2019.
• For the workshop on sustainable finance in Vaduz, the University of Lichtenstein is accepting papers until 2 April 2019.
• As part of this year’s global "Ethics and Trust in Finance Prize", students in insurance and finance and young professionals can participate in the essay writing competition for financial services (prize money of USD 20’000).

Further events are listed on the SSF website

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• February 2019: Holders of Last Resort: The Role of Index Funds and Index Providers in Divestment and Climate Change, published by researchers at the University of Edinburgh, sets out how passive funds can make a contribution to mitigate climate change.
• February 2019: The WWF Swiss Pension Funds Rating 2018/2019 assesses the 20 largest pension funds in Switzerland.
• January 2019: The OECD report on Social Impact Investment 2019 depicts the state of play of Social Impact Investment approaches, comparing regional trends and providing guidance for policy makers.
• January 2019: The EU Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance released a report on climate-related disclosures as an input for the revision of the guidance framing non-financial corporate disclosure in the EU.
• January 2019: The University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) has published the Cambridge Impact Framework. The framework contains 6 open-source metrics that investors can use to calculate their progress towards the SDGs.
• January 2019: In the Global Risks Report 2019, published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), environmental risks continued to dominate the global risks landscape for the third year in a row.
• January 2019: A study (in French) by Novethic quantified green assets of 223 non-listed European funds in the fields of infrastructure, private equity, real estate, etc., providing valuable insights into less-studied asset classes. Amounting to EUR 57.6 billion, these green assets represent 6.5% of European non-listed funds.
• November 2018: Dutch researchers published a study under the title of “Get Real! Individuals Prefer More Sustainable Investments”, which showed that a majority of pension fund members wishes for more sustainable investments in their pension plan.

Read these and other reports in our Digital Library on Sustainable Finance

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