This month, we are happy to announce that SSF has further strengthened its network in Europe as the newest member of Eurosif. With international developments speeding up and yet another set of sustainable finance measures passed by the EU, there is no better time to discuss the way forward in sustainable finance with our peers from all over Europe, and thus contribute to a mutual push forward for effective frameworks.

In the meantime, SSF is working hard to bring you the latest Swiss market insights: Don’t forget to sign up for our Market Study launch webinar on 7 June, when we will publish the Swiss Sustainable Investment Market Study 2021. We are also looking forward to our Members’ Assembly on the morning of 22 June, where SSF will elect its new president after our current president steps down from his full 6-year term.

Finally, our public Annual Conference on the afternoon of 22 June will give us the opportunity to bring together our broad network and discuss ways to provide transparency on the sustainability of products, ultimately helping finance gain the trust of clients and society at large.

Swiss news

• In the latest ranking of the Global Green Finance Index (GGFI), which evaluates the green finance offerings of major financial centres, Zurich tied for first place with Amsterdam, and Geneva also ranked in the top ten. This makes Switzerland the only European country with two top-ranking sustainable financial centres.

International developments

• In late April, the European Commission (EC) adopted a package of measures related to its sustainable finance policy, including a Delegated Act specifying what falls into the category of climate change mitigation and climate change adaption under its Taxonomy Regulation.
  
  
• As part of the same package, the EC also adopted Delegated Acts that amend existing financial market directives including UCITS, AFIM, Solvency II, IDD and MIFID II, in order to broadly ensure that investment advisers, asset managers and insurers include sustainability in their procedures and advice to clients.
  
  
• Finally, the EC unveiled plans to rename the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) to Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and considerably increase the number of companies obliged to provide sustainability data.
  
  
• In early May, Germany published an encompassing national sustainable finance strategy, which focuses on financial market regulation and policy to reach its sustainable finance goals. More specifically, the strategy includes 26 measures to reach 5 key goals.

Market trends

• The Financial Times reported that for the first time, European sustainable index funds inflows surpassed all others ETFs, according to data from TrackInsight. In 2020, assets in passive funds tracking indices based on ESG principles jumped from USD 59bn to USD 174bn.

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

• Banque Cantonale Neuchâteloise (Cantonal Bank)
• IST Investmentstiftung (Asset Owner)
• Natixis Investment Managers Switzerland Sàrl (Asset Manager)

The full list of our members and network partners, now standing at 175, can be found on the SSF website.

SSF events:

• 7 June 2021, Swiss Sustainable Investment Market Study Launch Event, online
• 22 June 2021, SSF Members’ Assembly (members and partners only), online
• 22 June 2021, Annual Conference (public), online
• 29 November 2021, Building Bridges Summit, Geneva
• 29 November - 2 December 2021, Building Bridges Week, Geneva

Other sustainable finance events:

• 26 May 2021, Aligning Financial Portfolios with Biodiversity Goals (launch of new biodiversity module of the ENCORE tool, funded by the Swiss government), online
• 7 June 2021, Unternehmensverantwortung im Finanzsektor managen (organised by Swiss National Contact Point), online
• 21-22 June 2021, New Energy Investor Summit, Zurich

• 18 May 2021, Corriere del Ticino, Investimenti sostenibili: approccio best-in-class (Article by SSF Ticino Representative, Alberto Stival)
• 14 May 2021, NZZ, Nachhaltigkeit lockt Frauen an die Börse
• 10 May 2021, Tagesanzeiger, Das CO2-Gesetz verspricht Banken gute Geschäfte
• 6 My 2021, RTS 1 (radio), Finance et durabilité (4/5) - Bientôt une finance internationale plus éco-responsable ?
• 4 May 2021, Allnews, Les Swiss Sustainable Funds Awards 2021 dévoilent la liste des nominés
• 30 April 2021, La Vie économique/ Die Volkswirtschaft, La transparence, pas un but en soi/ Transparenz ist kein Selbstzweck (Article by SSF CEO Sabine Döbeli)

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