ESG Funds

Revision to allow ERPs to rate unlisted securities and exempt them from disclosing ESG ratings to stock exchanges

Globally, regulators, rating agencies, and institutional investors have led the charge in promoting ESG investing

The Securities and Exchange Board of India will consult on introducing social bonds, along with sustainable and sustainability-linked bonds

More than half of global financial institutions find keeping up with changing regulations as a challenge in meeting ESG goals

Bengaluru-based Urban Vault reported a 41 per cent increase in rentals for ESG-certified properties during the third and fourth quarters of FY24

Sebi has also proposed to make the disclosures for value chain partners voluntary for the first year instead of comply or explain basis

European investors have seven times as much capital in sustainable fund assets than US investors, following five consecutive quarters of US outflows, based on Morningstar data

The company aims to provide investment opportunities and drive sustainable development initiatives across diverse sectors

Rachel Richardson, head of ESG at London-based law firm Macfarlanes, says this year might be "a bit of a crunch point for both borrowers and lenders" in the market for sustainability-linked loans

Their recent underperformance vis-a-vis multi- and flexi-cap funds was due to predominantly large-cap exposure

Against a backdrop of attacks by the Republican Party and lackluster returns, ESG funds in the US bled more than a net $5 billion in the final three months of 2023

This is part of SBI's $10 billion medium-term note program and was raised through private placement facilitated by the lender's London branch

State Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday said it has raised USD 1 billion or (about Rs 8,300 crore) to cater to the domestic ESG financing market. The bank has concluded the issuance of USD 1 billion (USD 750 million and green shoe of USD 250 million) through Syndicated Social Loan, SBI said in a regulatory filing. The loan book was closed on January 2, 2024, it said. Last year too, the country's largest lender had raised USD 1 billion syndicated social loan. The fund raised would would cater to domestic ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) financing market. The funds were raised through two tenures: a three-year and a five-year loan. These funds were raised at 80 basis points and 100 basis points over the secured overnight financing rate (SOFR), respectively. SOFR is a benchmark rate for dollar-denominated derivatives and loans, which replaced the London Interbank Offered Rate or Libor. During the second quarter ended September 30, 2023, the bank reported an 8 per cent incr

Issuance of all kinds of ESG bonds - green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds, or SLBs - jumped to $82.6 billion in November, up from $55.9 billion in October

By 2021, the role of finance in creating a greener, fairer planet was a growing part of the public debate, leading an ever greater number of lenders to produce such targets

The ESG investing industry may be more exposed to such risks than most, after taking to tech in a big way

36% believe costs for sustainability initiatives outweigh the benefits, says Capgemini Research Institute survey

India rolled out several measures over past two years to regulate its market for green and other assets, most recently allowing domestic fund managers to launch plans under six types of ESG strategies

Sustainable or ESG (environmental, social, and governance) funds in the country witnessed an outflow of Rs 520 crore in the April-June quarter of this fiscal, according to a report by Morningstar. This was higher than a withdrawal of Rs 470 crore seen from such funds in the preceding quarter. "While initial fund launches have attracted significant interest and flows, we have yet to witness continued flows for sustainable funds after their initial fund launch period. This has resulted in the lack of a discernible trend on a quarterly basis," the report noted. Continuing the trend of outflow, the year-to-date 2023 withdrawal was at Rs 1,060 crore as compared to Rs 1,020 crore in the preceding year. This is in contrast to the infusion of Rs 1.83 lakh crore for the year to date in the overall fund market. The report revealed that the coronavirus pandemic led to a marked increase in investor interest and fund launches for sustainable funds globally. "While the Indian sustainable fund .

There have been no new sustainable fund launches over the past two years.