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SSF Newsletter July 2022
 
Guiding Clients
 
Dear all
 

The 2022 Swiss Sustainable Investment Market Study demonstrates a Swiss market with high sustainable investment volumes of close to CHF 2 trillion, corresponding to a 30 percent increase from 2020. Such high growth rates can largely be explained by the increasing mainstreaming of different sustainable investment approaches, alongside the positive market performance in 2021. In light of the growing volumes, it is important to keep in mind that there exists no black and white definition of what is a sustainable investment and what is not. Seeing the growing concerns around greenwashing, giving clearer guidance on different levels of sustainability is an important next step. Equally, providing clarity to retail investors about objectives and mechanisms of sustainable investments is also key. SSF’s newest publication, the “Practitioners' Guide”, prepared in cooperation with EY, provides guidance on how to best inform clients about the sustainability characteristics of financial products. We thereby support the work by other actors within the Swiss market such as SBA with their new self-regulation for integrating sustainability criteria into investment and mortgage advice.

Over the course of the past weeks, different SSF events offered opportunities for the sustainable finance community to meet and learn about next hot topics to be tackled. A highlight was the SSF Annual Conference with the keynote from Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider and an in-depth discussion on the role of finance for biodiversity. We hope to continue to see many of you at other events we are already planning for the second half of 2022.

Wishing you a good summer break!

 

Kind regards,

Veronica Baker

SSF Project Manager

 
 
 
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Newsletter content
 

SSF activities at a glance

Regulatory and market news

New members and network partners

SSF and sustainable finance in the media

New reports & studies

 
 
 
 
SSF activities at a glance
 
 
New Publication “Practitioners’ Guide”
 

SSF publishes a “Practitioners' Guide on the Integration of Sustainability Preferences into the Advisory Process for Private Clients” to fully integrate individual sustainability preferences into the investment advisory process. This is the result of work with the Wealth and Asset Management Workgroup. Read it here.

 
 
 
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SSF appoints four women to the board
 
 
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At the Members’ Assembly held on 29 June 2022 in Bern, four new members were elected to the organisation’s strategic body: Sandra Cafazzo, Anne Marion-Bouchacourt, Mirjam Staub-Bisang and Maria Teresa Zappia. We congratulate them and are happy about the new support we gain. Read the Press release here.

 
 
 
SSF Annual Conference 2022
 

The SSF Annual Conference was held in person at the Kursaal in Bern. Around 250 members, networks partners and other finance experts attended the event, to hear great speakers including Nestlé CEO, Mark Schneider and FINMA president Marlene Amstad. View an event summary, pictures and slides here.

 
 
 
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Sustainable Investment Market Study 2022
 
 
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At an event, SSF presented the 2022 edition of the Swiss Sustainable Investment Market Study, which provides in-depth insights into recent market developments for sustainable investment (SI) in Switzerland. With an increase of 30% on the previous year to a total of CHF 1,982.7 billion, sustainable investments continue their dynamic growth. View the interactive microsite here.

 
 
 
Annual Report 2021
 

The SSF Annual report 2021 is now available! This year, for the first time, you can read it in an interactive online format.

 
 
 
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SSF’s statement on the Federal Council’s consultation on the new ordinance on climate reporting
 
 
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The ordinance specifies existing legal provisions on reporting on non-financial matters in the Swiss Code of Obligations (Art. 964a - 964c et seq. CO), which came into force on 1 January, 2022. SSF welcomes the proposal, but in its statement calls for adjustments to the draft ordinance. Read SSF’s statement here including the annex (only available in German).

 
 
 

> Read more about these and other SSF activities

 
 
 
 
Regulatory and market news
 
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Swiss News

  • The Federal Council unveiled the Swiss Climate Scores, a set of indicators providing transparency on the Paris alignment of financial investment. SSF contributed to the development of this important tool giving private investors meaningful, comparative information on the extent to which financial investments are aligned with the Paris goals. Read joint media release of SBA, AMAS and SSF on the Climate Scores.
  • The Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) introduced two self regulation guidelines for minimum requirements for integrating sustainability criteria into investment and mortgage advice. The new guidelines are binding for SBA members and come into force 1 January 2023.  Read the media release and the corresponding documents on SBA's website.

EU News

  • On 6 July 2022, the European Parliament voted in favour of labelling investments in gas and nuclear power plants as sustainable investments – against the original intention of the taxonomy and the recommendation of experts, including the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance. This will enable investors and states to subsume investments in these technologies as green, starting 2023.

International News

 
 
 
New members and network partners
 
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We are happy to welcome the following organisation as new SSF member:  

 The full list of our members and network partners, now standing at 213, can be found here.

 
 
 
Upcoming Events
 
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SSF and sustainable finance in the media
 
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Visit our website for more articles.

 
 
 
New studies & reports
 
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Nature Loss and Sovereign Credit Ratings
 

In this report published by the Finance for Biodiversity Initiative, the impact of biodiversity loss on sovereign debt markets in 26 nations is examined. Currently, leading credit rating agencies (CRAs) do not explicitly incorporate biodiversity and nature-related risks in their analysis and thus market stability may be undermined. This report models the effect of nature loss on credit ratings, default probabilities, and the cost of borrowing.

More >
 
 
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Does ESG Integration impact the real economy?
 

In this joint report by the University of Zurich and Center for Sustainable Finance & Private Wealth, commissioned by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), the impact of ESG integration on the real economy is examined. ESG integration is the most frequently used sustainable investment approach, globally and within Switzerland. This report investigates current academic literature to determine if there is an impact on the real economy, and if so, what this is.

More >
 

> Find these and other reports in our Digital Library on Sustainable Finance

 
 
 

Kind Regards,

The SSF Team

 
 
 

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