Impax Asset Management scoops up Danish boutique manager
Impax Asset Management, an asset manager that invests in the transition to a more sustainable economy, has agreed to buy a boutique Danish business

Fitch launches ESG scoring for Euro lev fin issuers with 75% CLO coverage
Fitch has scored 430 individual borrowers in the European market, which are on average more than 75% of the portfolio in an average Fitch-rated European CLO

Points up front: ESG official rants at ESG
Stuart Kirk, the former head of responsible investing at HSBC Asset Management, signed off on a frank note as he unveiled his resignation on LinkedIn

FinDox steps in on climate disclosure reporting for CLOs
FinDox has become involved in reporting on carbon data for ­climate-related financial disclosure regulations, having been mandated by leading CLO managers to source relevant ESG key performance indicators

HSBC AM's responsible investing head resigns with view to creating "new asset class"
HSBC Asset Management’s global head of responsible investing has resigned after been suspended by the firm. This followed him delivering a conference speech in May in which he downplayed the impact of climate change on financial markets

Seeds sewn for carbon credit market to flower into CLOs
Long-time structured credit specialist Jan Phillip Wassenaar has joined start-up NatureCredits as a senior advisor to support the evolving carbon credit industry

CEO steps down after DWS greenwashing allegations lead to police raid
A tumultuous 24 hours for DWS Group, in which police and regulators raided its office, has been compounded by the resignation of its chief executive officer Asoka Woehrmann on Wednesday morning

We’ll get through this awkward patch
Wide liabilities have made pricing CLOs trickier in the past few months. But speakers at Creditflux’s CLO Symposium were optimistic that the arbitrage is OK — so long as you can place those triple As

Managers debate ethics of investments in arms makers

Infrastructure manager targets €1 billion for eclectic mix of project finance debt and SRTs
A Copenhagen-based firm is launching its first credit fund and has partnered with an SRT specialist in London for a component of its potential €1 billion offering  

"Boardrooms are being hustled by activist shareholders using ESG data to drive economic value"
Pledges have been made and the Race to Zero has begun. Firms need to put their plans in place

Investors take nuanced approach to ESG as they move on from negative screening: Elfa
European bond and loan investors have evolved their ESG investment frameworks with 86% saying that they integrate ESG factors 'systematically and explicitly' in their investment process

BlueBay launches Article 8 multi-asset credit fund with Lloyds of London backing
The Article 8 fund will invest in high yield, bank loans, financial capital bonds, structured credit, convertible bonds, emerging markets and developed market investment grade

Elfa launches ESG exclusion checklist to streamline process for CLO managers
The European Leveraged Finance Association has launched an environmental, social and governance exclusion checklist, which it says is designed to “streamline the negative screening and exclusion” for CLO managers

CLO Census latest: voting crosses 200 as range of dealers lead in CLO origination
CLO market participants are placing value on the specialist service that dealers are providing, according to Creditflux’s CLO Census, with three different banks leading the way for US CLO execution, structuring and syndication. A silimar trend is in play in Europe

The Last Tranche with Capital Four: 26% of new European loans have an ESG-linked margin ratchet, and the US could follow fast
In this episode of the Last Tranche, Capital Four's Torben Skødeberg and Jim Wiant discuss the emergence of loans linked to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria

"If ESG funds only talk the talk, it is because investors, legislators and regulators don’t walk the walk"
Whatever an ESG fund means to you, it probably means something different to the next investor

M&G launches ESG loan fund with Prudential UK and Kapan backing
M&G has launched a leveraged loan fund focused on environmental, social and governance

"Do not rush to set up a check-box approach with negative screening and start de-investing"
Instead of rushing through an ESG framework, asset managers need to adopt a long- and short-term approach

Former DWS official claims company over-stated ESG progress: WSJ
DWS Group’s environmental, social and governance investment claims are in the spotlight after its former sustainability officer claimed the firm over-stated its ESG efforts, according to the Wall Street Journal

Elfa taps Hermes to chair CLO investor committee
Trade body the European Leveraged Finance Association has formed a CLO investor committee it hopes will be a forum for various industry initiatives, including environmental, social and governance standards

Axa IM extends palm oil policy to cover ecosystem protection and deforestation
Axa Investment Managers says it is expanding its 2014 policy of excluding investments in companies which do not have sustainable palm oil production certificates by factoring in deforestation and ecosystem protection

"Technology won’t replace human judgement. In ESG a qualitative review is necessary"
The social aspect of ESG must be given sufficient weight in investment decisions  

Elfa adds to ESG fact sheet range in standardisation drive
The European Leveraged Finance Association (Elfa) will shortly publish sector-specific fact sheets for the transport and healthcare industries, sources say, bringing its total of ESG fact sheets to 12

"We should be mindful of the transfer of power to the C-suite that inheres in ESG"
As shareholder returns become one factor among many, the C-suite becomes more powerful