The express focus on ESG and sustainable investing in the asset management space continues, and it grows increasingly important that firms tread with care and deliberation to ensure actions undertaken are meaningful and transparent.

An overhaul in communications with investors, a robust engagement strategy with regulators, and a focus on biodiversity risk, can be regarded as 3 pivotal goals for asset managers moving forwards in 2023. Recommended by the Independent Investment Management Initiative in their monthly update, these goals were generated in response to the present challenges that are emerging for asset managers.

What are considered as the key challenges, particularly for boutique firms, at this time? Greenwashing, disjointed dialogue amongst market supervisors, and the politicisation of ESG, especially in the US, are all gestured towards in the report, alongside the need for asset managers to stay informed of the rapid changes in the ESG and sustainable investing landscape.

Of particular note, a case is put forward around the importance of increasing the focus on investment in biodiversity. This push, supported by a report from the NGO, ShareAction, suggests that biodiversity, in comparison to climate change, has yet to receive impactful and sufficient attention from investors.