View unpublished articles

Deka Investment has published its Engagement Bericht 2025 (Engagement Report 2025; German-language) containing details on the points summarised below: ##### Key data - Publication date: February 2026 - Report type: Engagement - Period covered: year to end Dec 25 (2025 engagement dialogues and AGM season) - Frequency: Annual - Scope: Whole-of-operations (Deka Investment GmbH, Deka Vermögensmanagement GmbH and Deka International S.A. assets they manage) - Fundamental focus: Engagement & stewardship ##### Contents and focal points - Engagementthemen (engagement themes: eleven signed thematic essays spanning biodiversity, PFAS, critical minerals, debt-for-nature swaps, sustainable aviation fuels and aquaculture) - Engagementgespräche (engagement dialogues 2025, focus companies, engagement extended via target funds) - Engagement auf Hauptversammlungen (voting at c.1,200 general meetings in 2025 with 31 AGM speeches) ##### Specifics - Sustainability themes: climate strategy/SBTi, biodiversity, PFAS, critical minerals, sustainable aviation fuels, resource conservation, water, supply chains and labour rights, cyber risks and AI, corporate governance - Sectors of focus: energy industry (dedicated chapter); otherwise cross-sector ##### Team update Ingo Speich leads Sustainability & Corporate Governance at Deka Investment; team members named include Cornelia Zimmermann, Andreas Thomae, Anne Gugel and Bianca Scior. ##### Differentiators Deka exercises the right to speak at AGMs (31 speeches in 2025) — a distinctly German stewardship channel — has reported voluntarily under CSRD/ESRS since FY2024, and the report doubles as a footnoted thematic research publication. The report is published in German only. (Publication month stated as February 2026; specific day not given.) [Note: report body not fully retrieved — in-body content should be verified before confirming this buzz.]

DNB Asset Management has published its Quarterly Report for Responsible Investments Q1 2026 containing details on the points summarised below: ##### Key data - Publication date: no specific date stated; report covers Q1 2026 - Report type: Other - Period covered: quarter to 31 March 26 - Frequency: Quarterly - Scope: Whole-of-operations - Fundamental focus: Engagement & stewardship ##### Contents and focal points - Highlights from active ownership (multi-year engagement follow-ups, nomination-committee input ahead of general meetings, FAIRR seafood traceability collaboration with 45 investors / US$9.6tn AUM) - Voting and progress on the transition plan (176 meetings voted in Q1; 44.2% of AUM covered by a science-based emissions reduction target, declining as AUM shifts towards the energy sector) - Innovation outlook and News and trends (planetary-health technologies; ISSB-aligned mandatory ESG reporting arriving in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan from 2026) ##### Specifics - Sustainability themes: climate transition plans and SBTi coverage, seafood supply-chain traceability, biodiversity targets, serious environmental harm expectations - Sectors of focus: energy (falling SBTi coverage), media/entertainment, semiconductors - Companies featured (include): Embracer Group (renaming to Fellowship Entertainment), Cint Group, Nordic Semiconductor, Elliptic Laboratories ##### Team update No details reported. ##### Differentiators Includes an "Innovation Outlook" horizon-scanning section (airborne wind turbines, AI/drone habitat monitoring) unusual for a quarterly stewardship report, and trails DNB AM's newly released 2025 Annual RI Report (343 engagement dialogues; voting at 1,432 general meetings; PRI 5/5 stars). (No publication date stated; drafted 2026-07-04.)

Domini Impact Investments has published its 2025 Impact Report, covering the firm's shareholder advocacy, community investment, and environmental activities for calendar year 2025. ##### Key data - Publication date: 4 May 2026 - Report type: Annual RI - Period covered: Year to end Dec 2025 - Frequency: Annual - Scope: Whole-of-operations - Fundamental focus: Engagement & stewardship ##### Contents and focal points - Shareholder advocacy and voting: engaged with 93 companies across 200+ engagements; filed or co-filed shareholder proposals at Home Depot and Kroger; voted on 7,000+ proposals at approximately 500 annual meetings - Community investment: $48 million+ in green and sustainability bonds supporting housing, economic development, and climate solutions - Net-zero commitment: whole-portfolio net-zero by 2050 with interim targets and annual progress reporting ##### Specifics - Sustainability themes: Climate and net-zero, community development, corporate governance and accountability, supply chain labour rights - Sectors of focus: Retail and consumer goods (shareholder proposals at Home Depot and Kroger) - Companies featured (include): Home Depot, Kroger ##### Team update No details reported. ##### Differentiators Domini is one of the few managers to name its lead shareholder-proposal companies in the annual impact report — disclosing Home Depot and Kroger directly. The $48 million green/sustainability bond figure links investment activity to measurable community outcomes (housing, economic development, climate), a disclosure model less common among equity-focused impact managers.

DPAM has published its 2025 Engagement Activity Report containing details on the points summarised below: ##### Key data - Publication date: no specific date stated; voting data as at 31 December 2025 and the text references developments to February 2026, indicating publication in Q1/Q2 2026 - Report type: Engagement - Period covered: Calendar year 2025 - Frequency: Annual - Scope: Whole-of-operations (corporates — equity and credit — sovereigns, and ESG data providers) - Fundamental focus: Engagement & stewardship ##### Contents and focal points - 2025 Engagement overview - 2025 Key engagement updates: Engagement to defend our values and convictions - Material engagement cases ##### Specifics - Sustainability themes: climate (science-based target setting — 125 SBT letters cumulatively; 11 votes against Say-on-Climate), biodiversity (Nature Action 100, TNFD), digital rights and ethical AI, supply-chain due diligence including heightened human-rights due diligence on 24 companies with alleged West Bank/Gaza exposure, aggressive tax planning (16 engagements), and sovereign engagement on climate and social KPIs - Sectors of focus: textiles, infrastructure, oil & gas and other high-carbon sectors, cement, chemicals - Companies featured (include): Apple (digital rights); corporate material-engagement cases are otherwise anonymised; named sovereign cases are Côte d'Ivoire and the Flemish Community ##### Team update No details reported beyond co-CEOs Peter De Coensel and Yves Ceelen as signatories; engagement is coordinated by the Responsible Investment Competence Center. ##### Differentiators Systematic post-vote engagement — 441 letters to 344 companies where DPAM voted against or abstained (80 replies); an unusually developed sovereign engagement programme (incl. PRI collaborative sovereign engagement); formal annual engagement with its own ESG data providers; controversy-review coverage nearly doubled to 114 companies. (No publication date stated; drafted 2026-07-04.)

Comgest has published its Annual Stewardship Report 2025 containing details on the points summarised below: ##### Key data - Publication date: May 2026 (specific day not stated; recorded as 2026-05-01). - Report type: Stewardship - Period covered: Year to end December 2025 - Frequency: Annual - Scope: Whole-of-operations - Fundamental focus: Engagement & stewardship ##### Contents and focal points - Policy and Context Disclosure (Part I) - Activities and Outcomes Report (Part II — the six UK Stewardship Code Principles, including Engagement and Exercising rights and responsibilities) - Appendices ##### Specifics - Sustainability themes: climate, biodiversity and human rights, with responsible AI flagged as an emerging systemic risk (alongside PFAS, cybersecurity, ultra-processed foods, antitrust and greenwashing) - Sectors of focus: nature-engagement focus on pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, chemicals, personal care products and apparel; the climate/AI case study centres on the semiconductor value chain - Companies featured (include): EssilorLuxottica, Coway, Alphabet, Dassault Systèmes, Toyota Industries ##### Team update ESG is embedded within the investment team of 43 portfolio managers and analysts (including six dedicated ESG analysts), supported by ten dedicated ESG staff across Responsible Investment and Responsible Development functions reporting to Catriona Marshall, Head of Sustainable Investment. Franz Weis is Chief Investment Officer and Chair of Comgest's Sustainability Committee. ##### Differentiators Voting is kept fully in-house without applying the ISS benchmark policy, and ESG is built into valuation via a company-specific discount rate tied to a proprietary "ESG Quality Level" (1–4). In 2025 Comgest engaged 94 companies through 146 engagement actions. [Note: report body not fully retrieved — in-body content should be verified before confirming this buzz.]

The Climate Action Coalition's Net Benefit AI Taskforce has published 'Net Benefit AI: Scaling Solutions, Opening Opportunities', examining AI's dual role as a fast-growing source of electricity demand and an accelerant of decarbonisation. The report cites estimates that data centres consumed roughly 448 TWh of electricity in 2025 — on course to approach 1,000 TWh before 2030 — while responsibly deployed AI could cut global emissions by up to 5.4 billion tonnes by 2035, more than offsetting its own footprint. It proposes a 'Global Pledge for Net Benefit AI', analogous to COP28's renewables-trebling goal, alongside priorities spanning renewable-powered data centres, mandatory environmental disclosure and efficiency standards. Co-chaired by Ambassador Patricia Espinosa and Chris Skidmore, the report is available at the link below.

CCLA Investment Management has published Better World 2026, its annual stewardship outcomes report covering the year 2025. One of the UK's leading responsible investment managers — serving charities, faith bodies and not-for-profit organisations — CCLA documents a full year of engagement activity across three interconnected themes: better work, better environment and better health. In 2025, CCLA engaged with 242 companies on workplace issues, 209 on environmental themes and 220 on health, with 96 co-investors holding a combined £16 trillion in assets under management supporting its programmes. Headline activities include the launch of the Corporate Mental Health Benchmark – Global 100+ and the Modern Slavery UK Benchmark, with co-signed letters dispatched to every ranked company; the filing and subsequent withdrawal (after commitments were made) of a climate resolution at NextEra Energy; engagement with Amazon and McDonald's on collective bargaining and supply chain labour standards; and a new initiative targeting 40 counterparty institutions in CCLA's cash funds on fossil fuel financing. A pilot of a Global Modern Slavery Benchmark, covering 95 of the world's largest companies, was also launched. The report includes full appendices covering CCLA's 2025 engagement record, shareholder proposals, voting record and portfolio carbon footprint.

AllianceBernstein has published its AB Global Stewardship Statement and 2025 Report, combining its annual stewardship activity report with its standing responsible investing policy statement in a single document covering calendar year 2025. ##### Key data - Publication date: April 2026 (no specific date stated) - Report type: Stewardship - Period covered: Year to end Dec 2025 - Frequency: Annual - Scope: Whole-of-operations - Fundamental focus: Multi-category ##### Contents and focal points - 'Materiality Matters' — the organising theme for 2025: positioning AB's RI approach around financial materiality in the context of wider ESG scrutiny, with thematic pieces on AI and water risk, biodiversity, governance, and blended finance - Climate and education: third vintage of the AB Climate Change and Investment Academy with Columbia Climate School (700+ clients attended); theme: 'Charting a Course for Climate Investing in a Complex World' - Launch of ESIGHT 2.0: proprietary ESG scoring platform with 150+ data points and industry-tailored materiality mapping, positioned as superseding third-party ratings ##### Specifics - Sustainability themes: AI governance and energy/water risk, biodiversity, climate transition, blended finance, executive pay in healthcare, board oversight - Sectors of focus: Healthcare (executive compensation); data centres and utilities (AI/energy); food and agriculture (deforestation/water) - Companies featured (include): Nestlé, Linde, Ecolab (biodiversity and water risk engagement case studies) ##### Team update The RI team — restructured in late 2024 into four areas: Research, Stewardship, Solutions, and Data & Technology — is led by Chief Responsibility Officer Erin Bigley (29 years' experience, 26 at AB). Named senior members: Bob Herr (Director, Corporate Governance/Stewardship), Sara Rosner (Director, RI Research), John Huang (Director, RI Data and Technology), Patrick O'Connell (Director, RI Portfolio Solutions and Research). Board: 11 members, Independent Chair Joan Lamm-Tennant; CEO Seth Bernstein. ##### Differentiators AB explicitly states it has no broad-based net-zero investment target, framing its climate approach as 'client-driven' — a deliberate counter-consensus position disclosed openly. The 2025 edition also discloses that AI is being used in engagement and voting workflows, one of the first major stewardship reports to do so. ESIGHT 2.0 (150+ data points) is explicitly described as superseding third-party ratings — an unusually direct positioning claim. The report is both the annual activity report and the standing policy statement in a single document, which many peers publish separately.

BloombergNEF has published its New Energy Outlook 2026, projecting that solar will become the largest single source of electricity globally by 2032 and that battery storage capacity will expand 17-fold by 2050. The report records 2025 as a landmark year for energy transition investment, with a record $2.3 trillion deployed worldwide, while concluding that a 1.5°C pathway is no longer feasible under current trajectories. Energy security framing links geopolitical risks — including the ongoing conflict involving Iran — to the accelerating case for electrification and domestic clean energy capacity. Read the full report at the link below.

Erste Asset Management has published its Engagement & Voting Report 2025 containing details on the points summarised below: ##### Key data - Publication date: no specific date stated; June 2026 (announced by Erste AM on 25 June 2026) - Report type: Engagement - Period covered: year to end Dec 25 - Frequency: Annual - Scope: Whole-of-operations (voting exercised on behalf of all publicly offered equity funds and institutional mandates since 2017) - Fundamental focus: Engagement & stewardship ##### Contents and focal points - Key figures at a glance: voting at 670 AGMs of 606 companies in 38 countries - Systemic (system-level) stewardship formalised as an integral part of the strategy - Biodiversity: from corporate dialogue to broader impact ##### Specifics - Sustainability themes: five engagement priorities — climate change, biodiversity, human capital, global standards and good governance. Voting: ~€10.8bn of shares represented; 11.6% of votes (1,071 agenda items) deliberately cast against management, most frequently on shareholder rights, compensation policy, governance and supervisory-board independence; rising AI-related shareholder proposals in the US noted. - Sectors of focus: Not specified (geographic emphasis on Austrian and CEE home markets) - Companies featured (include): Bayer (Nature Action 100 co-lead dialogue on nature strategy, disclosure and crop-protection impact methodology); also a first sovereign engagement — structured dialogue with the Canadian federal government under PRI Canada Sovereign Engagement, with Erste AM co-lead at federal level ##### Team update Walter Hatak, Head of Responsible Investments, is quoted framing the ESG backlash as clarifying genuine long-term commitment; no other team details reported. ##### Differentiators A first-ever sovereign engagement (co-lead dialogue with the Canadian federal government) and the formalisation of system-level engagement — regulators, standard-setters, industry bodies and civil society — as a strategy pillar, plus its self-founded Engagement Think Tank growing to 36 asset owners and managers in 2025. (Drafted from Erste AM's official report announcement of 25 June 2026. Publication month evidenced as June 2026; specific day not given.) [Note: report body not fully retrieved — in-body content should be verified before confirming this buzz.]

EthiFinance has published 'European Companies Facing the Cybersecurity Challenge', a study of how listed European companies manage cybersecurity risk, drawing on its database of over 2,300 ESG ratings of European small-, mid- and large-cap issuers. It frames cyber risk as a core governance issue and maps management gaps across practices including integration into operational risk management, penetration testing, security certification and employee training. Comparisons are provided by company size, country and sector, with a dedicated focus on 646 companies operating in high cyber-risk sectors. The study follows EthiFinance's 2023 European cybersecurity survey. The report is downloadable at the link. [Note: report body not fully retrieved - in-body content should be verified before confirming this buzz.]

Fisher Investments has published 'Why El Nino Doesn't Necessitate Portfolio Shifts', a MarketMinder commentary on the El Nino declared by NOAA in mid-June 2026. It argues extreme weather is a false fear for markets: the two prior 'super' El Ninos (1982-83 and 1997-98) coincided with US disinflation and economic expansion, not downturns. Weather-hit sectors such as agriculture are too small a share of the global economy to derail growth, and adaptation plus forecast visibility mean much of the impact is already pre-priced. The piece reads widespread El Nino pessimism as a bullish sentiment signal, while conceding localised damage - as in Peru in 1983 - can be real. The full commentary is at the link.

GAM Investments has published a review of its 2025 proxy voting alongside an early outlook on the 2026 proxy season, written by Simona Rubino of its Responsible Investment team. Board-related resolutions accounted for 32% of GAM's votes against management in 2025, reflecting concerns over board independence, refreshment and strategic oversight. Early 2026 outcomes point to more targeted, materiality-driven stewardship focused on board accountability, strategic resilience and financially material risk oversight. The article links to a fuller PDF version and to GAM's Stewardship Report 2025.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management has published its 'Global Insurance Survey 2026: Adaptation in Action', covering 434 insurance CIOs and CFOs (published March 2026, included as not previously captured). 52% of respondents cite a potential US recession and geopolitics among their top macro risks, yet 88% expect the S&P 500 to end 2026 higher. Allocation intentions show a net 38% of insurers raising exposure to asset-backed finance, continuing the industry's shift into private credit. 83% of insurers are now using or considering AI, primarily targeting cost reduction. The survey summary is at the link.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management has published its 2025 Stewardship Report — the firm's eighth annual edition — covering stewardship and engagement activities across the Public Markets Investing Business for calendar year 2025. ##### Key data - Publication date: Early 2026 (no specific date stated; copyright 2026; data as of December 31, 2025) - Report type: Stewardship - Period covered: Year to end Dec 2025 - Frequency: Annual - Scope: Whole-of-operations - Fundamental focus: Engagement & stewardship ##### Contents and focal points - Governance Best Practices: board composition, shareholder rights, capital allocation, and remuneration — 174 issuers engaged - Climate Transition Strategies: GHG disclosure, net-zero targets, and decarbonisation strategies — 123 issuers; ongoing programme since 2020 - Company Conduct: Global Norms Violations (72 corporate groups; three-tier classification — Tier 1 ongoing violation, Tier 2 partial remediation, Tier 3 not currently a violator) and Incidents programme (67 issuers — product safety, labour, discrimination, data security) ##### Specifics - Sustainability themes: Biodiversity and Nature (Deforestation 18 issuers; Water 18 issuers; Plastics — concluded in 2025 after objectives met and integrated into routine dialogue); AI governance as a recurring cross-portfolio engagement theme in 2025 - Sectors of focus: Not specified; themes applied cross-sectorally - Companies featured (include): None named individually as primary case studies ##### Team update The 13-member Global Stewardship Team is based across New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, and Bengaluru (12 languages spoken) and is led by Catherine Winner, Global Head of Stewardship. The team is supported by a Proxy Voting Council — drawing from public equity investment teams, divisional management, legal and compliance — that meets annually for policy review and ad hoc for in-year topics. ##### Differentiators GSAM conducted 1,353 total engagements with 1,022 unique issuers across 56 markets, voting at 12,824 meetings (99.5% of votable meetings) on 123,064 proposals. The firm discloses a multi-year declining trend in shareholder-proposal support: 31.0% (2022) → 26.9% (2023) → 29.4% (2024) → 25.0% (2025) — an unusually transparent multi-year disclosure. The explicit closure of the named Plastics initiative in 2025 — with reasoning provided and objectives integrated into routine dialogue — is a rare example of openly sunsetting a thematic programme. GSAM also names its proprietary 'Fluent' engagement-tracking platform publicly, accessible across the entire Public Markets Investing Business.

Goldman Sachs Research has published 'US Data Center Power Demand Projected to Double by 2027', summarising commodities research by Hongcen Wei, Daan Struyven and Samantha Dart. It forecasts US data-centre power demand more than doubling from 31 GW in 2025 to 66 GW in 2027 on the AI build-out, with only 50-60% of scheduled capacity expected to come online on time due to supply-chain and labour constraints. Regional divergence is sharp: Mid-Atlantic, Mid-Continent and Northwest power markets face elevated reliability risks and may have to turn future data centres away, while Texas and Georgia see only marginal tightening. Data centres' share of US peak summer power demand is projected to rise from 4.1% in 2025 to 8.5% in 2027. The full article is at the link.

Candriam has published a viewpoint arguing that the environmental transition has entered a 'capex era', in which capital deployment rather than policy ambition is the defining driver. Around USD 5 trillion was deployed globally across energy-transition infrastructure between 2020 and 2024, and the piece contends the emerging supercycle is broader, longer-dated and more resilient than earlier phases — spanning grids, storage, recycling, water and industrial automation, and increasingly justified by economics rather than subsidies. Within its Thematic 2.0 framework, Candriam identifies a layered opportunity set across enablers, efficiency leaders and system integrators, and argues active selection will determine where value accrues. Read the full viewpoint at the link below.

Candriam has published its 2025 Annual Engagement Report containing details on the points summarised below: ##### Key data - Publication date: March 2026 (Publication month stated as March 2026; specific day not given.) - Report type: Engagement - Period covered: Calendar year 2025 - Frequency: Annual - Scope: Whole-of-operations (individually engaged issuers represent 34% of corporate-instrument AUM; collaborative dialogues 45%) - Fundamental focus: Engagement & stewardship ##### Contents and focal points - Engagement Statistics - Collaborative Initiatives (with "Spotlight on Selected Individual Engagement Campaigns in 2025") - Promoting Sustainable Development ##### Specifics - Sustainability themes: five declared stewardship themes — governance & business ethics, climate change, biodiversity & natural capital, human rights, human capital; 2025 emphasis on responsible restructuring (new campaign), board and leadership effectiveness, Say-on-Climate, and forced and child labour (Jasmine Coalition on Egyptian jasmine supply chains) - Sectors of focus: utilities, food & beverage and banks (top three engaged); capital goods, materials and pharmaceuticals lead individual dialogues; automotive and banking targeted in the Responsible Restructuring campaign - Companies featured (include): Intesa Sanpaolo, LVMH, Compagnie de Saint-Gobain, Teleperformance, Kingspan ##### Team update No details reported. ##### Differentiators Candidly tightened its own methodology — CDP/survey-based initiatives will no longer be counted in engagement statistics, and the drop in issuer response rate (68% vs 84%) is explained openly; every initiative is tagged to SFDR PAIs and SDGs; a companion 2025 Annual Voting Report was published alongside.

IFC and Amundi have published 'Emerging Market Sustainable Bonds', the eighth edition of their joint report — renamed from the former Emerging Market Green Bonds Report to cover the full spectrum of labelled instruments, including transition bonds for the first time. EM GSSS issuance rose 2.2% to USD 186.8 billion in 2025, but the headline masks stark divergence: China surged 51% to a record USD 111.1 billion, becoming the world's largest GSSS issuer, while EM issuance outside China contracted 31%. The report finds the 'greenium' has effectively vanished and flags a maturity wall, with roughly USD 371 billion of EM GSSS bonds — 45% of the outstanding stock — maturing over 2026–2028. A special theme covers Women's Economy Bonds, whose cumulative issuance has reached USD 57 billion across more than 40 countries. The full report is available at the link below.

JP Morgan has published 'Food security under pressure: Iran conflict disruptions and a brewing El Nino', the latest instalment of its Climate Intuition series by Dr Sarah Kapnick, Global Head of Climate Advisory. It warns that the Iran conflict is disrupting nitrogenous fertilizer supply - over 36% of global urea is imported from the Persian Gulf - while a developing El Nino historically cuts tropical agricultural production by around 3.5%. The dangerous overlap: the countries most exposed to El Nino crop declines, including India and Brazil, are also the largest importers of Gulf fertilizer, and no strategic fertilizer reserves exist. Farmers' most likely response is reduced fertilizer application, hitting Brazilian corn, winter wheat and Asian rice first. The full article is at the link.

The Investor Group on Climate Change (Aus) has published the State of Net Zero Investment 2026, its ninth annual survey of Australian institutional investor climate practice, drawing on responses from 55 investors (21 asset owners and 34 asset managers) collectively managing approximately A$3.5 trillion. Investor appetite for climate solutions is rising sharply — energy storage up 44 percentage points in two years to 76% and renewable generation up 24 points to 71% — yet 74% of respondents report no progress in removing barriers to climate-aligned investment, with the shortage of opportunities at appropriate risk-return profiles the most-cited barrier in the survey's nine-year history. Asset-owner appetite for climate investment in Asia jumped 20 percentage points, the largest single-year regional shift recorded, signalling that Australia risks losing transition capital to its trading partners. The full report and summary findings are available on IGCC's website.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management has published its 2025 Investment Stewardship Report — the firm's sixth annual edition — covering its 'investor-led, expert-driven' stewardship activities for calendar year 2025. ##### Key data - Publication date: April 2026 - Report type: Stewardship - Period covered: Year to end Dec 2025 - Frequency: Annual - Scope: Whole-of-operations - Fundamental focus: Engagement & stewardship ##### Contents and focal points - Governance engagement and voting: board composition, capital allocation, executive compensation, and corporate governance reform programmes across Asia (Japan, Korea, China); voted against 15% of 10,679 management compensation proposals in 2025 - Climate change: transition plans, AI/data-centre energy demand and water risk (thematic project launched 2024), physical climate risk, and director voting under new climate-risk voting policy effective April 2024 - Human capital management and natural capital: executive compensation design, strategy alignment, natural capital (water scarcity, plastics), and social stakeholder engagement; expanded stewardship coverage for real estate and forestry alternatives ##### Specifics - Sustainability themes: Governance reform, climate transition, AI/data-centre energy and water demand, natural capital, human capital management - Sectors of focus: Energy transition (fossil fuels, EAF steel); corporate governance reform (Japan, Korea); AI/data-centre value chain; real estate and forestry - Companies featured (include): Not specified ##### Team update George Gatch is CEO of J.P. Morgan Asset Management. The 'investor-led, expert-driven' model pairs 1,000+ investment professionals (conducting core stewardship) with a dedicated Investment Stewardship Team. Progress is tracked through the proprietary Spectrum™ platform using a four-stage engagement framework. [Note: report body not fully retrieved — in-body content should be verified before confirming this buzz.]

Lazard Asset Management has published 'China: Charging the Road Ahead', an Emerging Markets Monitor Q&A from its Emerging Markets Team examining China's position at the centre of the global electric vehicle transition. Chinese consumers buy more than half of EVs globally, while Chinese firms control over 70% of lithium refining, 85% of cobalt processing and more than 65% of cathode and anode production capacity, with CATL and BYD together accounting for 55% of EV batteries installed worldwide. The team argues that the 'glocal' expansion of Chinese EV and battery firms — roughly $143 billion invested in overseas ventures between 2014 and 2025 — extends rather than erodes this advantage, and highlights under-researched supply-chain opportunities across emerging markets from Chile and Argentina to Indonesia and East Africa. The full Q&A is available on Lazard's website.

MFS Investment Management has published its MFS Stewardship Report: First Quarter 2026 containing details on the points summarised below: ##### Key data - Publication date: 29 April 2026 (per mfs.com publication metadata; not printed in the document) - Report type: Stewardship - Period covered: Quarter to 31 March 2026 - Frequency: Quarterly - Scope: Whole-of-operations - Fundamental focus: Engagement & stewardship ##### Contents and focal points - Sustainability at MFS - Sustainability and Stewardship Update - Stewardship at MFS / Recent Engagement Activity ##### Specifics - Sustainability themes: cyber risk (a new proprietary engagement framework with sector-based focus questions), supply-chain labour risk including conflict minerals, climate strategy and decarbonisation, executive compensation ("continued pay elevation" via one-off awards), board composition and management succession, capital allocation and shareholder returns in Japan - Sectors of focus: capital goods, technology hardware, energy, consumer retail - Companies featured (include): Hon Hai (labour risk assessment); the five engagement case studies are otherwise anonymised by sector ##### Team update The report includes a full named org chart (as of 31 March 2026): an 11-person ESG Research & Stewardship Team led by Rob Wilson (Director of Global ESG Integration) and Franziska Jahn-Madell (Director of Global Stewardship), plus a six-person Client Sustainability Strategy group headed by Bess Joffe (Global Head of Sustainability Strategy) and named legal & compliance staff. ##### Differentiators Quarterly proxy-voting scorecard (35 markets, 232 meetings, 2,676 proposals, 4.8% of votes against management) and unusually assertive escalation language — at one Japanese manufacturer MFS states a shareholder proposal for materially higher buybacks "would be an appropriate and proportionate response". Few peers publish a full named team roster including compliance staff.

Metzler Asset Management has published its Engagement Summary 2025 containing details on the points summarised below: ##### Key data - Publication date: 24 February 2026 (date listed on Metzler's website; the document cover is dated December 2025) - Report type: Engagement - Period covered: Calendar year 2025 (data as at 31 December 2025) - Frequency: Annual - Scope: Whole-of-operations - Fundamental focus: Engagement & stewardship ##### Contents and focal points - Engagement results (engagement statistics and escalation strategy) - Public documents (transparency and publications) - Headline metrics: 819 dialogues, 160 milestones achieved, 38 countries covered ##### Specifics - Sustainability themes: climate change (24.8% of 1,405 dialogue topics and 46.1% of milestones achieved), corporate governance (20.3%), labour standards (16.3%), environmental stewardship (15.7%), business conduct (12.5%), human rights (10.5%) - Sectors of focus: Not specified (breakdowns are by topic and geography only) ##### Team update No details reported. Engagement and proxy voting are delegated to Columbia Threadneedle Investments; an internal "ESG board" decides on potential divestment where engagement fails. ##### Differentiators Fully delegated stewardship model — all engagement, voting and milestone statistics are produced by Columbia Threadneedle Investments and republished by Metzler; the report is very short (six pages, roughly half legal disclosure) and purely statistical, with no case studies or named companies.

Lombard Odier Investment Managers has published 'Advancing net zero progress in emerging market equities', examining how investors can pursue decarbonisation alignment within emerging market portfolios. LOIM's approach applies its proprietary Implied Temperature Rise methodology, which benchmarks companies' historical and projected emissions against sector and regional carbon budgets — using a 2.5°C threshold for emerging markets, reflecting their differentiated transition pathways. The piece argues that many emerging market countries are well placed to transition rapidly to net zero, offering equity investors opportunities to capture decarbonisation momentum. Read the full article at the link below. [Note: article body not fully retrieved — in-body content should be verified before confirming this buzz.]

Legal and General Investment Management has published its Climate Impact Pledge 2025 report, covering its annual assessment of over 5,000 companies across 20 climate-critical sectors. The 2025 campaign saw LGIM send 2,900 letters outlining its approach to climate and nature — including deforestation expectations — and reinstated China Mengniu Dairy following progress on deforestation commitments. LGIM's Climate Impact Pledge continues to apply vote sanctions, and potentially divestment from selected funds, to companies falling short of its climate red lines, with 100+ dial-mover companies at the centre of its direct engagement programme. Download the full 2025 report at the link below. [Note: PDF report; publication date approximate; in-body content should be verified before confirming this buzz.]

Royal London Asset Management has published a new article examining the responsible investment dimensions of artificial intelligence, titled "AI is booming – but is it responsible?" Authors Georgina Chiu and Charles Stott argue that investors face governance risks as AI-driven energy demand from data centres could exceed 1,000 TWh by 2026, while also navigating ESG risks including bias, hallucinations, and privacy concerns. The article accompanies RLAM's downloadable "Sustainable and Ethical AI Investor Expectations Report," which outlines a governance framework for investors seeking to engage with AI adoption across their portfolios. Read the article and download the report at the link below.

Ostrum Asset Management has published its Report on voting rights exercised in 2025 containing details on the points summarised below: ##### Key data - Publication date: February 2026 (Publication month stated as February 2026; specific day not given. Announced on Ostrum's website 27 March 2026.) - Report type: Other (annual proxy-voting report) - Period covered: Calendar year 2025 (the 2025 AGM season) - Frequency: Annual - Scope: Whole-of-operations (1,332 securities across 41 mandates and UCIs; 1,295 meetings voted — 97% participation; 19,091 resolutions) - Fundamental focus: Engagement & stewardship ##### Contents and focal points - General framework - Outcome of votes - Analysis of voting priorities and of factors justifying negative votes ##### Specifics - Sustainability themes: Say-on-Climate (33% opposition; supported 3 of 6 in-scope votes), shareholder climate resolutions (95% support), executive remuneration / Say-on-Pay (20% opposition), board independence and gender diversity (minimum 40% women), anti-takeover financial authorisations - Sectors of focus: oil & gas and coal singled out for climate-strategy scrutiny under sector policies; otherwise cross-sector - Companies featured (include): Icade, Amundi, ENGIE, Aena, Ferrovial (Say-on-Climate vote rationales) ##### Team update No individuals named. Resolutions are analysed by Ostrum's analysts-fund managers supported by ISS Governance, under a voting policy approved by the Executive Committee; vote execution sits with the Flow Middle Office department. ##### Differentiators Unusually frank disclosure that only around 100 stocks receive fundamental internal analysis, with the remainder following the proxy adviser's recommendations; every vote is publicly disclosed on an ISS-hosted platform; explicit abstention policy at Groupe BPCE entities to manage conflicts of interest.

RepRisk has published 'Business conduct risk in banks: pragmatic, governance-oriented, and less inclined to go quiet', a banking-sector cut of its Business Conduct Risk Intelligence Report 2026, produced with Oxford Economics from a survey of over 500 C-suite executives. It finds that a significant business conduct incident now costs an average of USD 14 million, with firms facing USD 28-43 million in annual exposure and major incidents up 55% between 2023 and 2025. Only 16% of executives ranked AI-related conduct risks as a top material risk over the past three years, but 56% expect them to be over the next three - the highest of any non-financial risk. Banks and development finance institutions stand out for a less defensive posture on sustainability communications and a strong preference for human-AI hybrid risk data over fully automated alternatives. The summary and report download are at the link. [Note: report body not fully retrieved - in-body content should be verified before confirming this buzz.]

Trillium Asset Management has published its Q1 2026 Shareholder Advocacy Impact Report containing details on the points summarised below: ##### Key data - Publication date: 10 April 2026 - Report type: Engagement - Period covered: Quarter to 31 March 2026 - Frequency: Quarterly - Scope: Whole-of-operations - Fundamental focus: Engagement & stewardship ##### Contents and focal points - Environmental Justice — American Water Works - Labor Rights — Starbucks - Climate Change / Shareholder Rights — BJ's Wholesale Club ##### Specifics - Sustainability themes: environmental justice, labour rights and collective-bargaining oversight, credible climate targets, shareholder proposal rights under the SEC's November 2025 no-action policy shift, DEI transparency, chemical safety, immigration-related governance - Sectors of focus: utilities, food and consumer retail, technology - Companies featured (include): American Water Works, Starbucks, BJ's Wholesale Club, NextEra Energy, Alphabet ##### Team update No details reported. ##### Differentiators Reports 11 new engagements in the quarter, all graded successful, plus four sign-on letters; publicly initiated a "vote no" campaign against two Starbucks directors alongside the NYC and NYS Comptrollers over labour-oversight failures — after which the company and union returned to the bargaining table; took novel action to defend shareholder proposal rights at BJ's Wholesale Club following the SEC's policy shift.

Terra Alpha Investments has published its 2025 Impact Report containing details on the points summarised below: ##### Key data - Publication date: April 2026 (stated on cover; specific day not given) - Report type: Annual RI - Period covered: year to end Dec 25 (proxy record 1 Jan–31 Dec 2025; portfolio environmental metrics use 2024 company data, the most recent available) - Frequency: Annual (the firm's sixth Impact Report) - Scope: Whole-of-operations - Fundamental focus: Multi-category ##### Contents and focal points - Portfolio Impact - Corporate Engagement Impact - Thought Leadership ##### Specifics - Sustainability themes: decarbonisation and science-based targets (portfolio SBT coverage rose from 76.4% to 85.8% of AUM in 2025, against a 95% goal for 2030); water disclosure campaign (69% of portfolio with comprehensive water disclosure by end-2025); data-centre energy and water impacts; waste, plastics and circularity (22 engagements; new plastics engagement framework); board diversity (75.4% of portfolio boards more than one-third female). 140 active engagements in total, 81 assessed as "meaningful"; 966 proxy proposals voted. - Sectors of focus: Not specified (global public equity; technology and cloud companies feature via the data-centre campaign) - Companies featured (include): Xylem, SalMar, Unilever (the flagship engagement case study — a company that set SBTi targets in 3Q25 after engagement since 2018 — is deliberately unnamed) ##### Team update Authors include Tim Dunn CFA (Co-Founder & CIO), Amy Dine (Director of Corporate Engagement) and Julianna Brunini CFA (Associate Portfolio Manager & Director of Research). Jean Rogers (SASB founder) rejoined the Advisory Board in 2025; the team is 56% women. ##### Differentiators Claims to be the first and only US-based asset manager with an SBTi-validated science-based target for financed emissions, and publishes unusually granular avoided-impact metrics (cumulative 902 tCO2e, ~114,000 m³ water and 41 t waste avoided per $1m invested since 2015 versus the iShares MSCI World ETF), backed by an independent third-party impact audit (Impact Evaluation Lab: authenticity 87/100, execution 97/100). (Publication month stated as April 2026; specific day not given.)

Environmental Defense Fund Europe has published 'EU energy security considerations in light of EU MER & the Middle East conflict', a Rystad Energy analysis it commissioned. The report finds no credible evidence that the EU Methane Regulation is contributing to current oil and gas price increases: TTF and Asian spot prices have moved in tandem, indicating a global supply shock from the Middle East conflict rather than an EU regulatory premium. OGMP 2.0 Level 5-compliant gas and oil volumes are each expected to exceed EU import requirements by roughly three times in 2027, even allowing for a Strait of Hormuz shortfall. It concludes that weakening or delaying the regulation would not improve energy security, and that the rules are synergistic with REPowerEU and the phase-out of Russian gas. The full report is at the link.

Swisscanto has published its Annual Engagement Report 2025 covering corporate engagement activities on behalf of investors for calendar year 2025. The report is produced by Swisscanto's engagement partner Morningstar Sustainalytics and covers the full Swisscanto engagement programme, which is independent from proxy voting (reported separately). ##### Key data - Publication date: 12 February 2026 - Report type: Engagement - Period covered: Year to end Dec 2025 - Frequency: Annual - Scope: Whole-of-operations - Fundamental focus: Engagement & stewardship ##### Contents and focal points - Portfolio-wide engagement activity: 894 active engagements (150 new in 2025; 48 resolved); 583 engagement milestones met - Six thematic programmes: Biodiversity, Human Capital, Human Rights & Transition, Net Zero, Corporate Governance, and Circular Economy. Top theme by volume: Climate Transition Risk (274 active engagements; top industry: Utilities with 80 engagements) - Performance classification system: three-pillar taxonomy assessing engagement performance across a 5×5 Progress vs Response matrix; 16% of companies rated High Performance, 8% Low Performance ##### Specifics - Sustainability themes: Climate transition risk, biodiversity, human capital, human rights, net zero, circular economy - Sectors of focus: Utilities (80 engagements — highest single sector) - Companies featured (include): Exxon Mobil, Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway (named as Low Performance companies with engagement timeline trackers) ##### Team update Engagement activities are conducted by Morningstar Sustainalytics under commission from Swisscanto. No in-house team details reported. ##### Differentiators Swisscanto is unusual in naming Low Performance companies publicly, with engagement timeline trackers for Exxon Mobil, Amazon, and Berkshire Hathaway. The proprietary 5×5 Progress/Response matrix and three-pillar taxonomy provide unusually granular engagement outcome classification. The explicit separation of engagement (this report) from proxy voting (a separate programme) — and the outsourcing of engagement to Morningstar Sustainalytics — is a distinctive structural disclosure relative to peers who typically present both as an integrated in-house function.

Robeco has published a new insight arguing that physical AI — AI embedded in factories, robots and power grids — is emerging as a key enabler of industrial electrification, energy efficiency and energy security. Industry accounts for nearly 40% of final global energy demand and around two-thirds of demand growth, yet electrification rates have stagnated near 20%; the authors report that physical AI can deliver energy savings of 15–75% in industrial settings. The piece surveys deployments at Siemens, Schneider Electric, Hitachi and Fanuc — including a digital-twin-optimised pick-and-place operation that cut energy use by almost 75% — and highlights actuator efficiency as an underappreciated investment frontier as humanoid robotics scale. Read the full insight at the link below.

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management has published its Stewardship and Sustainable Investment Report 2025 containing details on the points summarised below: ##### Key data - Publication date: 26 March 2026 (per VLK newsroom announcement; document imprint March 2026) - Report type: Stewardship (also fulfils the statutory engagement-reporting obligation under Ch. 5.6a of the Dutch Financial Supervision Act) - Period covered: year to end Dec 25 - Frequency: Annual - Scope: Whole-of-operations (investment strategies, fiduciary management and private-banking discretionary management) - Fundamental focus: Multi-category (four pillars: exclusion; ESG integration & screening; active ownership; impact investing) ##### Contents and focal points - Active ownership: engagement - Active ownership: voting - Investing with impact ##### Specifics - Sustainability themes: climate (net zero by 2050; the 7% p.a. carbon-intensity reduction pathway towards 55% by 2030 was reached in 2025) and biodiversity (Nature Action 100, Finance for Biodiversity Pledge, two new MSCI nature metrics added) as the two named focus themes; just transition; impact investing including two Dutch local impact funds. In 2025: 90 companies engaged directly (97 engagements), 235 companies via collaborative initiatives; voted at 533 meetings (94% of votable meetings), with against/withhold votes at 78% of meetings and 16% of all votes cast against management; 205 companies and 19 countries excluded. - Sectors of focus: engagement led by Industrials (16), Consumer Discretionary (14) and Materials (12); case-study clusters in real-estate decarbonisation, Japanese/Korean corporate governance, and food & beverage plastic pollution - Companies featured (include): DB Insurance, BMW, Alexandria, Takuma, Unilever ##### Team update The foreword is signed by Erik van Houwelingen, Chair of the Management Board of Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management; the report notes the 2025 expansion of the Social Impact & Philanthropy Services team. No other individuals are named. ##### Differentiators A transparent four-milestone engagement methodology reports 43 milestones achieved across 77 engagements-for-change in 2025 — with the candour that over half of engagements showed no progress — alongside a proprietary five-category sustainability spectrum scoring all 352 funds and external managers (57% of AuM).

Vontobel Asset Management's Conviction Equities Boutique has published a new viewpoint arguing that grid modernisation represents a defining long-term investment opportunity. The piece identifies the surge in electricity demand — driven by electrification, AI data centres, and the growing share of intermittent renewables — as exposing the structural weaknesses of aging power networks. Vontobel argues that the solution set — spanning grid upgrades, energy storage, and resilience infrastructure — offers investors exposure to a structural megatrend independent of short-term policy cycles. Read the full viewpoint at the link below.

Triodos Investment Management has published its Impact Report 2025 covering the social and environmental outcomes of its investment activities for calendar year 2025. ##### Key data - Publication date: Early 2026 (no specific date stated) - Report type: Annual RI - Period covered: Year to end Dec 2025 - Frequency: Annual - Scope: Whole-of-operations - Fundamental focus: Multi-category ##### Contents and focal points - Environmental impact outcomes: 303 ktonne CO2e avoided and 100% lower biodiversity impact versus benchmark across the portfolio - Social impact outcomes: 10.7 million microfinance borrowers supported; 58,300 smallholder farmers reached via investee companies - Stewardship activity: 70 of 81 AGM meetings voted (86%); voted against management at 22 meetings ##### Specifics - Sustainability themes: Climate mitigation, biodiversity, financial inclusion, food systems, smallholder agriculture - Sectors of focus: Microfinance and financial inclusion; food and agriculture - Companies featured (include): Not specified ##### Team update No details reported. ##### Differentiators Triodos IM discloses a portfolio-level biodiversity metric — '100% lower biodiversity impact versus benchmark' — at a time when most asset managers do not yet report quantified biodiversity outcomes at fund level. The combination of granular social outcomes (microfinance borrowers; smallholder farmers) with voting statistics in a single report is also unusual among impact-focused managers.

Wellington Management has published its 2025 Sustainability Report covering the firm's sustainable investing activities for calendar year 2025. ##### Key data - Publication date: April 2026 - Report type: Annual RI - Period covered: Year to end Dec 2025 - Frequency: Annual - Scope: Whole-of-operations - Fundamental focus: Multi-category ##### Contents and focal points - Stewardship and ESG integration across equity, fixed income, multi-asset, and alternative asset classes including proxy voting and engagement policies - Climate investing: climate integration philosophy (updated February 2026), biodiversity approach (updated October 2025), and decarbonisation guidelines implemented in collaboration with clients - Impact investing: Global Impact Report and Global Impact Bond Report published separately in July 2025 covering 2024 impact activities ##### Specifics - Sustainability themes: Climate transition, biodiversity, ESG integration, impact investing, stewardship governance, modern slavery - Sectors of focus: Not specified - Companies featured (include): Not specified ##### Team update No details reported. [Note: report body not fully retrieved — in-body content should be verified before confirming this buzz.]

Boston Trust Walden has published an ESG integration case study examining how the firm evaluated McCormick & Company as a potential investment. The note illustrates the manager's collaborative research process, in which a securities analyst and an ESG analyst assess a company simultaneously using SASB-informed materiality, and shows how McCormick's 'Grown for Good' sustainable-sourcing framework, now spanning 16 commodities across more than 54,000 acres in 11 countries, strengthens supply-chain resilience. It notes that around 65% of McCormick's Americas and EMEA revenue comes from health- and wellness-oriented products, and that the company delivered a 37% cut in Scope 1 and 2 emissions against its 2020 baseline. Boston Trust Walden concludes that McCormick's improving margins and favourable ESG profile supported retaining the stock on its approved list. Read the full case study for the firm's step-by-step ESG research approach.

Citi Research has published Must C: Overcoming Gridlock 2.0 — Solving Power Bottlenecks to Drive AI & Energy Security, a report examining why global power-grid expansion is failing to keep pace with surging electricity demand. The report, led by Head of Energy Strategy Anthony Yuen, argues that AI data-centre buildout, energy-security concerns and the growth of renewables, batteries and EVs are driving sustained demand for power infrastructure that supply chains and permitting regimes cannot match, making "speed-to-power" a critical priority. It finds power users increasingly turning to distributed "bring-your-own-generation" strategies — often based on U.S. natural gas — while labour shortages, volatile AI-driven load and lengthy interconnection processes compound the challenge. Even if AI-related demand moderates, Citi expects electrification, energy security and renewable deployment to continue supporting substantial investment across the power value chain. A redacted public version of the report is available via the article page.

Citi and CREATE-Research have published Upping the Innovation Game in the Asset Management Industry, a research report drawing on 221 asset managers across 26 countries managing US$34.8 trillion in assets, plus 40 senior-executive interviews. It finds the scope of innovation shifting from new products toward operational and organisational transformation, with 62% prioritising process innovation as firms respond to fee compression and rising complexity. The report highlights mutual-fund-to-ETF conversions as the change delivering most client value (cited by 57%), a gradual multi-year path to digital and AI adoption, and the rise of partnerships-at-scale as a strategic capability. The full report is accessible via the article page.

Citi Institute has published Quantum Threat: The Trillion-Dollar Security Race Is On, a report on the risks that cryptographically relevant quantum computers pose to today's public-key encryption. It cites estimates of a 19–34% probability of "Q-day" — quantum computers becoming able to break public-key encryption — by 2034, rising to 60–82% by 2044, and warns that "harvest now, decrypt later" attacks make the threat active today for long-lived confidential data. The report estimates a single-day quantum attack on one top-five U.S. bank's access to Fedwire could cause US$2.0–3.3 trillion in indirect GDP impact, notes around 25% of bitcoin (worth $500–600 billion) is "quantum-exposed", and sets out a five-point migration plan toward NIST post-quantum cryptography standards. (Publication month stated as January 2026; specific day not given.) The full report is available as a direct PDF download.