Germany’s fiscal expansion may boost economic growth in the long term The ambiguity surrounding US tariffs and their implementation is raising fears among businesses and consumers that could weigh on economic growth over the medium to long term, while having a temporary effect on inflation. Combining this uncertainty with the high valuations in US stocks and the fiscal announcements outside the US, has resulted in the divergence in performances between the US, European and Chinese equities. Amundi presents its latest Global Investment Views.
The ASIC report into death benefit claims revealing the devastating impact of poor industry practices on grieving Australians has again highlighted the pressing need for change. While some funds have taken up the cudgels, others are still playing hardball on improving their service offering.
Bfinance ups the ante with ESG
bfinance has recruited its first senior executive dedicated to ESG, coinciding with a commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 across its business, including manager searches.
The global funds management search and research advisory firm has appointed Sarita Gosrani as ESG and responsible investment director. She heads up the new ESG advisory unit based in London.
Gosrani was formerly head of ESG research at XPS Pensions Group, where she helped lead the firm’s approach to responsible investing and supported clients with integrating ESG considerations in their investment strategies.
Alongside this, she was responsible for developing asset manager research and monitoring frameworks to assess ESG across a range of asset classes. She will report to Duncan Higgs, a managing director and head of portfolio solutions at bfinance.
In a statement last week, bfinance, which has an active Australia and New Zealand office led by Fithjof van Zyp in Sydney, the firm also announced its commitment to supporting the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner in line with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. This commitment includes:
- Working with asset-owner clients to support net zero goals and strategies
- Integrating support with net zero ‘as standard’ into existing consulting services such as manager research and selection, and
- Pledging to establish appropriate emissions reduction targets across direct operations.
David Vafai, the chief executive, said: “We believe in keeping responsible investment matters firmly at the heart of the research and client consulting teams, as has been the approach to date.
“The creation of a dedicated ESG resource is intended to support and enhance the ESG-related work of those teams, as well as enabling us to offer some additional advisory support to clients.”
Bfinance already has an ESG and Responsible Investment Committee, of which Vafai is a member.
