- White papers
The new nature of business: integrating biodiversity into finance
As the world confronts climate change, the financial sector faces the challenge of preserving biodiversity - an essential factor for fostering a sustainable economy. By integrating biodiversity into decision-making and investment practices, financial institutions can help protect the planet’s natural resources while generating sustainable returns for investors and society. The economy’s dependence on nature makes biodiversity loss a significant risk for companies, especially as regulations tighten.
- White papers
The Challenging Sustainable Investing Landscape
The incorporation of sustainability factors in investment decisions has become increasingly common in the portfolios of institutional investors over the past decade. This has been primarily driven by investors who may be focused on risk management, responding to new regulations, making investments that align with their values, or seeking to enhance long-term performance.
- White papers
Greening the grid: data centres address their footprint
The world’s surging adoption of Artificial Intelligence in our daily lives is accelerating the demand for data centres. It is also drawing attention on the sector’s growing demand for energy resources and the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the wider economy.
- White papers
Addressing misconceptions with net-zero investing
The journey towards achieving carbon neutrality, or net zero, by 2050 is not only essential for our planet but also increasingly demanded by investors. Motivations for those seeking to align their portfolios with net-zero often vary — spanning financial, societal, and ethical domains — yet many investors hold a common set of misconceptions related to implementation.
- White papers
The power of additionality: Why impact investing should focus on building companies that otherwise wouldn’t exist
As impact investing continues to grow, one of its most essential principles—additionality—is becoming a central topic of conversation. In simple terms, additionality refers to the idea that an investment has a positive societal impact that would not have occurred without the intervention of that capital. While it’s easy to focus on financial returns and measurable impact metrics like carbon reduction or jobs created, additionality raises a more profound question: Are these companies addressing problems that would remain unsolved without their innovation?
- White papers
Reframing the climate question
How should an investor balance a focus on reducing their climate impact with a desire for financial returns? And how does a company management team accommodate what can often be seen as competing demands?
- White papers
Reconciling alpha with sustainability in impact investing
For over a decade, the investment world has undergone a true paradigm shift. Led by ethically minded pension funds, endowments, and a new generation of investors, this shift reflects a growing commitment to investments that support businesses tackling environmental and social challenges.
- White papers
Human capital: the unsung hero of the company valuation equation
Assessing the value of a company can be challenging. Typically, investors start by looking at its financial standing and records that reflect tangible investments, such as machinery purchases and building maintenance costs, to understand the company’s revenue, debt obligations and other expenses.
- White papers
Private equity’s resilience during major crises: a 25-year analysis
Over the last four years, financial markets have been subject to a series of shocks that have had far-reaching implications. From the global pandemic and subsequent shutdown of major economies to recent geopolitical tensions, the market environment has been rife with uncertainty. Amidst this turbulence, private equity still managed to deliver impressive absolute and relative performance. Over the period 2019 to 2023, global private equity experienced 16% annualised performance, outperforming the MSCI ACWI gross index by 8%.
- White papers
Trends and opportunities in impact credit
The fast-growing market for impact credit offers investors a rich source of opportunity and diversification. Nuveen portfolio managers Stephen Liberatore, CFA® and Jessica Zarzycki, CFA® discuss the trends and opportunities, from global issuance and innovative transactions to defining impact and balancing competing objectives.