RFI Newsletter Articles
Filter by date
Filter by topic
- ACMF 1
- AI 2
- ASEAN 3
- ASEAN Taxonomy 2
- Banking Supervision 1
- Biodiversity 2
- Blue Economy 3
- Blue Finance 1
- Blue Finance Challenge 1
- COP28 3
- CSRD 2
- Carbon Credits 1
- Central Asia 1
- Climate 1
- Climate Disclosures 6
- Climate Mitigation 4
- Climate Risk 21
- Climate Scenario Analysis 2
- Climate Stress Test 3
- Climate risk 1
- Coal Phase-Out 1
- Credit Ratings 1
- Derisking 2
- ESG 6
- Emerging Markets 13
- Emissions Intensity 1
- Ethical Finance 1
- FinTech 3
- Financed Emissions 6
- Financed Emissions Data 7
- Financial Institutions 9
- Financial Materiality 1
- Financial Shocks 1
- Financial Stability 2
- GCC 2
- GHG Protocol 1
- GVI Hub 3
- Global Stocktake 1
- Green Bonds 3
- Greenwashing 2
- ISSB 1
- Institutional Investors 1
- Islamic Banking 3
- Islamic finance 2
- Just Transition 5
- MAS 1
- MENA 2
- MSMEs 1
- Maqasid 1
- NGFS 3
The investors underpinning the greenium
New research has identified one of the sources of the ‘greenium’ seen in green bond issuance among institutional investors, especially pension funds and mutual funds. The study used a database of European bond holdings and compared the sensitivity of different types of investors to changes in market conditions. Among the investors studied – the database used included only European investors – mutual fund and pension fund investors were less likely to sell green bonds in response to changes in price than were banks and insurance companies.
Resetting expectations for ESG
Following the onset of Covid-19, ESG became a hot topic as the ‘next big thing’. With that growth, it attracted both pretenders and detractors. The change in the tone of reporting about ESG has led to some hand-wringing about its future. A UK-based portfolio manager broke down the issue into two parts: “When it comes to “the three-letter acronym ‘ESG’ — people don’t want to talk about it as much because of the news flow from the US. But from an investment perspective and what we do internally, it has never been more important.”
Shari’ah screens complement ESG integration by investors in Emerging Markets
In a new report released with Refinitiv, the RFI Foundation has extended analysis done earlier with INCEIF to investigate the impact of combining Shariah and ESG screens. The new research applies the same methodology and data source with more recent figures covering the period immediately prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic through late 2022, focusing only on companies located in Emerging Markets. The new results show a convergence in the general trends similar to that identified for developed markets in the earlier sample.
FinTech Startups Adopting Responsible Finance & ESG Integration in MENAT: Lessons from the GVI Hub’s 5th Cohort
The RFI Foundation has successfully concluded our 5th GVI Hub Responsible Finance FinTech Program (RFTP) for the MENAT region. During the program, FinTech participants engaged in collaborative sessions to share their insights and experiences in integrating responsible finance and sustainability in their operations.
Financial Institutions May Be Lulled Into Complacency By Climate Stress Test Results
The UK’s Institute & Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) says users of climate risk models may put too much weight on the results of scenarios selected for regulatory stress tests
Financial institutions should use a diversity of climate scenarios, both quantitative and qualitative, to ensure that the outputs are consistent with the economic implications of physical climate impacts in a ‘hot house’ world
Many models using traditional economic modeling applied to climate change scenarios produce overly benign results that significantly understate the true risk that financial institutions face
Is It Possible To Define Criteria For Net Zero Credibility For Financial Institutions?
SBTi’s document is the latest step in the process of creating a financial institution Net Zero (FINZ) standard to be released in 2024
The criteria outlined are ambitious in their coverage of financed and facilitated emissions, which are defined as “Category 15+”, referring to the GHG Protocol’s substantially narrower definition of financed emissions
It will remain challenging to develop a consistent framework for forward-looking Net Zero plans that incentivize investment in transition activities while avoiding easier but less meaningful ‘portfolio decarbonization’