Webinar 2: Trend towards ESG Centricity of Portfolio Investments

Date: 24 November, 4:00–5:00 p.m. Manila time (UTC +8)

The trend towards ESG centricity in the investment decisions by asset managers, institutional investors such as insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, and pension funds and other financial institutions is accelerating in international financial markets.

To direct financing resources towards a sustainable development trajectory these investors and intermediaries can take concrete actions to improve SDGs alignment by enhancing transparency and accountability to reduce risks of misalignment and avoid negative externalities.

By integrating ESG considerations in their investment decisions, adopting stringent monitoring and evaluation practices to ensure ESG risk reduction in ways that are compatible with the SDGs, institutional investors have the leverage to demand private sector companies to abide to higher-quality sustainability standards and impact measurement, as well as transparent sustainability risk and impact disclosure. Meanwhile, institutional investors call for more widespread and harmonized sustainability standards.