ESG and Sustainability
The rise of ESG factors in investment decision making will have a dramatic impact on returns and opportunities in the 21st century. A recent survey by LGT Capital Partners and Mercer showed that 57% of respondents believe that incorporating ESG standards into investment decisions will raise returns. Just 9% argued they reduce returns on investment.
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Revaia, Europe’s largest female-founded venture capital firm, has successfully raised €150 million ($160 million) for its second fund, Revaia Growth II. The funding was secured from sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and institutional investors across Europe, with support from existing partners like Bpifrance and new backers such as mutual insurer Carac and the European Investment Fund.
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More Stories on ESG and Sustainability
Digital Assets: Visa Launches Crypto Pilot Program With Black-Focused First Boulevard
Visa (NYSE: V) announced today the pilot launch of its new suite of crypto APIs in collaboration with digital neobank First Boulevard. The APIs will enable the bank’s customers, which are predominantly from the Black community, to purchase, custody and trade digital assets.
Artificial Intelligence: IdentiFlight’s AI-Powered Bird Detection Systems Save Eagles From Wind Turbines
It’s a “green-versus-green” conundrum. Windfarms generate emission-free energy on the one hand, but cause the deaths of wildlife such as protected eagle species, on the other. IdentiFlight’s smart cameras, however, provide an automated curtailment system that slows or stops wind turbines when it senses the risk of collision due to inbound wildlife.
Venture Capital: Robert Downey Jr. Launches FootPrint Coalition Ventures At WEF Digital Davos Agenda
Robert Downey Jr., producer, investor, and Iron Man star, launched FootPrint Coalition Ventures (FCV) at the World Economic Forum’s Digital Agenda on Wednesday. FCV comprises two ESG sector funds that will accelerate groundbreaking technologies to tackle the world’s largest environmental challenges.
Alternative Investments: BMO Launches 11 New ‘Megatrend’ ETFs
BMO announced Tuesday the launch of 11 new Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs). Five of these ETFs form part of an Innovation suite, while the other six focus on clean energy, covered calls, fixed income, and ESG.
FinTech: Infinity Maritime Names Four Shipbrokers For Its Alternative Ship Finance Platform
Infinity Maritime aims to provide a sustainable solution for maritime finance by digitizing ship portfolios on its platform. This enables fractional ownership, secondary trading in ships, and the financing of environmentally sustainable fleets. The London-based platform announced Wednesday a collaboration with four major shipbrokers to source ships for the creation of a sustainable fleet.
Digital Assets: Central Bank Of Bahrain Licenses Shariah Compliant Crypto Exchange CoinMENA
Investors in select Gulf countries, looking to invest in the burgeoning world of cryptocurrencies, may soon get that opportunity. CoinMENA, a digital assets exchange certified as Shariah-compliant by the Shariyah Review Board, announced Sunday that it had received the all-important license to operate from Bahrain’s central bank.
Artificial Intelligence: Satellites And AI Track African Elephants
Scientists from the University of Bath, University of Oxford, and the University of Twente in the Netherlands have demonstrated the successful use of satellite cameras with deep learning algorithms to monitor the location and number of African elephants.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Harvest Portfolios Launches The Harvest Clean Energy ETF
Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. completed last week the initial offering of Class A Units of the Harvest Clean Energy ETF (TSE: HCLN). The units of the ETF commenced trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on January 14.
Alternative Investments: Investors Turn To Alternatives For ‘A.I.D.’ (JPMorgan Report)
The events of 2021 forced us all to reconsider what the “essentials” in our lives are: Health professionals, our family, our health, home, friends, and a good internet connection. The third annual Global Alternatives Outlook by J.P. Morgan Asset Management recommends you add another item to that list of essentials – alternative investments.
Venture Capital: Bill Gates-Backed, CleanTech VC Raises $1B
Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) is a venture capital firm that invests in cleantech. The term describes companies (or technologies) that aim to improve environmental sustainability including the negative impact of conventional technologies such as coal-fired power. It was established in 2015 by Bill Gates and a coalition of private investors concerned about climate change. The firm has just raised $1 billion (its second raise of that amount) from unnamed investors.
Artificial Intelligence: AI Detects Illegal Roads In The Amazon Rainforest
An investigation in 2016 by Imazon showed that the actual length of roads in the Brazilian Amazon biome was nearly 13 times higher than what was shown in official maps. These unofficial roads, most of them illegal, threaten the existence of the Amazon ecosystems. The researchers spotted these unreported roads by tracing lines on satellite images.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Invesco Launches Five Global Fund-of-Funds As Its Summit Responsible Range
Invesco’s new Summit Responsible range of five global multi-asset funds aims to provide investors a cost-effective exposure to ESG considerations with specific risk levels. The funds’ assets will 100% be invested in line with certain ESG criteria.
Alternative Investments/Digital: AUM At Global ESG ETFs Surged To Record In 2020 (TrackInsight)
Data from the global ETF analysis platform TrackInsight shows that ESG ETF assets across the world grew 223% year-on-year to scale a new record of US$189 billion in 2020. Nearly 200 new ESG ETFs were launched during the year, and total inflows into ESG ETFs were US$97 billion.
Alternative Investments/ESG: The SP Funds S&P Global REIT Sharia ETF For Exposure To Shariah-Compliant Real Estate
This is a new faith-based ETF from SP Funds, home of North America’s largest family of Shariah-compliant ETFs. SP Funds has a solution for investors looking for Shariah-compliant exposure to real estate using the ETF vehicle. The asset manager has launched North America’s first Shariah-compliant REIT ETF. The SP Funds S&P Global REIT Sharia ETF (NYSEARCA: SPRE) launched on the New York Stock Exchange on December 30.
Digital Assets: As Bitcoin Soars, Russia’s Gazprom Neft Kills Two Birds With One Stone
With bitcoin having scaled an all-time high of US$ 34,000, it is becoming increasingly lucrative to mine the cryptocurrency, especially if energy costs are low, or free. Gazprom Neft, a direct subsidiary of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom (MCX: GAZP), is converting gas from its oil fields, that would otherwise have been flared, into usable energy for bitcoin mining.
Venture Capital: Octopus Energy Clinches Japanese Investment And Supply Deal
Octopus Energy has a mission: to disrupt the energy industry in Britain which “is ruled by a handful of complacent dinosaurs peddling fossil fuels, pricing trickery, and poor customer service.” Supplying green energy sourced from renewable sources, the startup is already adding 30,000 customers a month and supplies energy to 1.5 million homes in the UK. Expanding its international footprint, Octopus will soon enter Japan in collaboration with Tokyo Gas, the largest gas utility in Japan.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater And Lyxor Tie Up For All-Weather ESG UCITS Fund
Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund, which is led by billionaire Ray Dalio, will launch in Europe a sustainability/ESG fund using a UCITS structure. For this purpose, it is partnering with Lyxor Asset Management, a subsidiary of French bank Societe Generale (PAR: GLE).
Alternative Investments/ESG: Invesco Launches Four Active Non-Transparent ETFs
Investors get the opportunity to avail of Invesco’s investment expertise in their first suite of active, non-transparent ETFs. Other features of the ETFs that investors will find attractive are tax efficiency, intraday tradability and an arbitrage mechanism. Besides, the four ETFs also offer a very cost-effective structure.
Artificial Intelligence: Machine Learning To Identify Whale Sounds, Warn Ships
Southern resident Orca whales, also known as killer whales, are an endangered species. Researchers at Simon Fraser University (SFU), Canada, propose to use AI to identify them by their sounds, and then warn approaching ships of their presence.
Venture Capital: Hydrogen-Electric Aviation Startup ZeroAvia Gets $21.4M From Amazon, Shell
California-based ZeroAvia, a startup developing hydrogen-electric aviation solutions, announced Wednesday its raise of $21.4 million. The company will use the money to advance its program for the development of zero-emission commercial aircraft. The aviation industry is a major user of fossil fuels and the source of emissions. ZeroAvia’s powertrain uses hydrogen, which produces water when burned.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Morgan Stanley UK Launches Sustainable Fixed Income Opportunities Fund
The Morgan Stanley UK Sustainable Fixed Income Opportunities fund will primarily invest in global fixed income securities issued by corporates and governments while integrating ESG considerations into the investing process.
Its portfolio will feature an assortment of investment grade, high yield, emerging market, convertible, securitized, and government bonds.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Inspire Adds Two New ETFs To Its Biblical Range
The Inspire Faithward Large Cap Momentum ETF (NYSE: FEVR) and the Inspire Faithward Mid Cap Momentum ETF (NYSE: GLRY) are two new, actively managed biblically responsible ETFs from the house of Inspire Investing.
Alternative Investments/ESG: JPMorgan Launches Carbon Transition U.S. Equity ETF
The JPMorgan Carbon Transition U.S. Equity exchange-traded fund (JCTR) will track the JPMorgan Asset Management Carbon Transition U.S. Equity Index. The new fund will give investors exposure to U.S. equities represented by the Russell 1000 subject to their performance on the criteria of emissions, resource management, and risk management.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Amundi’s New DAX ESG ETF
The new Amundi DAX 50 ESG UCITS ETF (DECD) is a DAX 50 ETF with a preference for companies that have strong sustainable profiles. It tracks the DAX 50 ESG index which bars companies in activities such as weapons, tobacco and thermal coal, or do not meet international standards.