ON THE RADAR
Impact-Focused Asset Managers in the Netherlands
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For the first time, at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2020 climate and environmental risks are listed as the top five global risk areas. As with any era of disruption, climate change is creating and will continue to create risks and drive opportunities for asset managers as well. Asset managers therefore are facing a major challenge: how to navigate a path through these issues and build a sustainable business model for a new era of ESG-focused investment. Achieving this will mean taking long-term, strategic decisions in the immediate future about their approach to ESG and their market positioning.
Asset managers face five significant trends in sustainable, responsible and impact investments:
– Climate change is the leading environmental concern among investors.
– Conflict risk is the top social concern among investors.
– An emerging trend is gender lens investing — investing with an explicit focus on products or companies that actively support women’s socioeconomic advancement.
– Concern about civilian firearms has contributed to a significant increase in assets that avoid investment in military contractors or weapons manufacturers.
– Corporate governance issues are becoming more prominent in investment analysis and portfolio selection.

Following CPR invest smart trends (2021).
The concept of sustainable (or ethical, green, social, etc) asset management is evolving rapidly. Today asset managers in every country are trying to consider sustainable goals of their client and build impact-focused portfolios.
Cyan Reef aggregates some of the most sustainable names in asset management in the Netherlands.