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SSF Newsletter February 2017: Unveiling solutions to reach global goals
 
 
 
Dear all
 

Two 4-letter acronyms received great attention in the financial world in the past two months.

 
 

After a year of intense work, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) released its report with recommendations on how to best report financially material climate risks and opportunities in December 2016. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also recently gained new support from the finance community with several organisations announcing initiatives to better link their investment activities to the SDGs.

 

SSF started the year with our first ever event in Lausanne. The launch event of the handbook on sustainable investments for Swiss institutional asset owners in Romandie brought together 100 professionals, confirming the importance of such a publication in French.

 

We currently see no lack of momentum for sustainable finance! We will focus our next activities, in the form of publications and events, on the role of sustainable investing for Swiss private banking. We wish you an interesting read and look forward to reconnecting at one of our upcoming events.

 

Kind regards

 

Sabine Döbeli

CEO Swiss Sustainable Finance

 
 
 
 
 
Content
 

SSF Activities

Regulatory and market news

SSF and sustainable finance in the media

New members joining SSF

Save these dates

New reports & studies

Varia from our network

 
 
 
 
 
SSF Activities
 

Presentation of SSF handbook in Romandie

 
 
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In January, SSF held an event in Lausanne to present the French version of the SSF handbook on sustainable investments for Swiss institutional asset owners to its members and other interested parties in the Romandie. Read more about the publication.

 

 
 

Keynote speaker Prof. Jacques-André Schneider (Professor of Law, University of Lausanne) illustrated the evolution of responsible investment in the US using the example of TIAA-CREF, a large pension fund the size of the entire second pillar market of Switzerland. Jean Laville (Deputy CEO, SSF) then gave more detailed insights into the SSF handbook and emphasized that this comprehensive publication can be used by institutional asset owners to help them take a stance in the area of sustainable finance. The three panellists, Anne Gloor (Founder and Board Member, PeaceNexus Foundation), Pascale Pfeiffer (Head of Sustainability and Art, Mobiliar) and Jean-Rémy Roulet (President, Swiss Pension Fund Association (ASIP)) then shared their experiences with the setup of their own sustainable investment policies and agreed that the handbook is useful for many different investors, providing hands-on advice for different levels of implementation.

 

Read more and download the presentations from the event.

 
 

SSF Member webinar on TCFD and feedback on public consultation

 
 
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The TCFD recommendations are intended to support firms in understanding what financial markets want from disclosures in order to measure and respond to climate change risks, and encourage firms to align their disclosures with investors’ needs.

 
 

SSF gave its members the opportunity to hear first-hand from Andreas Spiegel (Head Group Sustainability Risk, Swiss Re, and member TCFD) about the content of this important report and its consequences for the financial sector. In SSF’s first Member Webinar, Andreas provided background information on the process in defining the relevant key-performance indicators and best ways to use them in financial decision making. SSF submitted its feedback to the TCFD public consultation, which it drafted in collaboration with interested members and network partners. On 7-8 July 2017, the FSB will present the final report at the G20 Summit.

 

View SSF's response to the public consultation

 
 

SSF moderates expert panel at Finanz'17

 
 
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At the Professional Investors' Conference Finanz'17, Sabine Döbeli (CEO, SSF) moderated an expert panel consisting of five mainstream asset managers that shared their experiences in “SRI/ESG/Impact Investing” with the Conference’s target audience of finance professionals.

 
 

Matt Christensen (Global Head Responsible Investment, AXA Investment Managers), Ben Constable-Maxwell (Corporate Finance & Stewardship, M&G Equities), Andrew Howard (Head of Sustainable Research, Schroders), René Nicolodi (Head of Equities & Themes, Swisscanto Invest by Zürcher Kantonalbank) and Isabelle Rucart (Leader Impact Investing, iShares) saw strong dynamics in ESG investing while they emphasized that to be successful in this booming field, a change in corporate culture is indispensable.

 

 

See other events and discussions where SSF took part

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Regulatory and market news
 

Below you find some of the most prominent topics from the last 2 months.

 

Swiss news

 

International initiatives

  • The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), with the support of nearly 20 leading global banks and investors, worth $6.6 trillion in assets, launched “The Principles for Positive Impact Finance – A Common Framework to Finance the SDGs”. They are a set of high-level guidelines, designed to "provide a common yet flexible framework for the business and finance community to identify and develop positive impact activities, entities and projects".
  • The EC has announced the composition of the High-Level Expert Group on sustainable finance. It is chaired by Christian Thimann, Group Head of Regulation, Sustainability and Insurance Foresight of AXA (also served as Vice-Chair of the FSB’s TCFD). By the end of 2017, the 20 policy leaders from civil society, the finance sector and academia are expected to provide recommendations for a comprehensive EU strategy on sustainable finance as part of the Capital Markets Union.
  • To help bring investors and innovators together in the transition to a circular economy, the EC has partnered with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to establish the Circular Economy Finance Support Platform.

 

Market trends

 

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SSF and sustainable finance in the media
 

 

Visit our website for regularly updated articles on SSF and sustainable finance

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New members and network partners
 

We welcome the following organisations as new SSF members or network partners:

 
 
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  • ECOFACT AG
  • Institut für Finanzdienstleistungen Zug (IFZ), Hochschule Luzern – Wirtschaft
  • SwissFoundations

A full list of our members and partners can be found on the SSF Website.

 

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Save these dates
 

 

Upcoming SSF Events

  • Zurich, 22 March 2017, 10.00 – 13.30, Sustainable Investing: A Unique Opportunity for Swiss Private Wealth Management. Launch event for our publication containing 10 arguments for client advisors and for a short film on this topic. Key-note by Mr. Herbert Scheidt, President Swiss Bankers Association.
  • Lugano, 10 April 2017, 17.30 – 19.00, Launch event for SSF handbook in Ticino, including different presentations and an expert panel.
  • Bern, 13 June 2017, SSF public side event to Members’ Assembly. Key note by Doris Leuthard, President of the Swiss Confederation for 2017.

More details and registration soon on our website

 

Other Events

Further events are listed on our website

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New reports & studies
 

Reports you should not miss:

 

Read these and other recent reports

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Varia from our network
 
  • University of Zurich recently established the Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth (CSP) at the Department of Banking and Finance. The CSP (to be headed by Falko Paetzold) works closely with its founding wealth owners, Harvard and MIT to develop research and specific trainings for the global community of private wealth owners, foundations and firms looking to integrate sustainability into their wealth and asset management.
  • IFZ, who recently joined SSF as a network partner, launches a new CAS Sustainable Investing, starting in May 2017. Sign up for the course is open until 31 March 2017.

We are happy to see a growing offering of Swiss educational opportunities in sustainable finance emerging.

 
 
 
 
 

 

Best regards

 

The SSF team

 

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