AllianzGI publishes its Sustainability and Stewardship Report 2023
25.04.2024 | Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI), one of the world’s leading active investment managers, has released today its Sustainability and Stewardship Report 2023 that highlights the progress over the past year in how AllianzGI delivered sustainable outcomes for its clients and other stakeholders and lays out the company’s intentions for 2024.
Matt Christensen, Global Head of Sustainable and Impact Investing at AllianzGI, commented: "In 2023, questions arose around the purpose and value of sustainable investing, leading to a welcome reframing of concepts, such as ESG. In this context, we have continued to focus on providing our clients with pragmatic solutions to shape sustainability aiming for real-world change. In 2024, the world faces a number of sustainability-related challenges and some clear political divisions. Pragmatism will be the watchword. Regardless of the challenges to come, we will continue to offer concrete solutions and tools that support our clients’ sustainability ambitions, play our part in driving the transition agenda across our industry and continue to build a sustainable business.”
Key 2023 developments
The report highlights 2023 key developments: Firstly, AllianzGI further built out its sustainable investing offering. There are now more than 200 sustainable funds that are classified as Article 8 or 9 according to the European Union (EU) SFDR regulation , accounting for 61% of AllianzGI’s total mutual fund AuM. Secondly, capitalising on the successful Key Performance Indicator (KPI) approach targeting decarbonisation, AllianzGI introduced two new sustainable investment approaches in 2023: a) the ESG score approach that targets a higher weighted average ESG score in comparison to the benchmark and is applied to emerging market strategies; b) a KPI sustainable investment share approach that directly leverages AllianzGI’s proprietary methodology to identify sustainable investments, according to the SFDR. A third key achievement in 2023 was the successfully introduction of new and innovative fund solutions. Examples are the launch of the company’s first social-focused equity strategy and the closing of the SDG Loan Fund, a “blended finance” strategy established together with MacArthur Foundation and FMO IM that mobilised USD 1.1 billion in investor capital to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in emerging and frontier markets.
Intentions for 2024
AllianzGI’s Sustainability and Stewardship Report also looks ahead and outlines aspirations for 2024. In the current year, the political agenda risks delaying the financing and implementation of transition plans. This can result in a higher probability of a “delayed transition” scenario. AllianzGI is already providing advisory analysis on the potential impact on client portfolios in terms of the drag on returns under different climate scenarios reflecting increased systemic risk. Moreover, 2024 could be the year when biodiversity – a topic that typically attracts less attention than climate change as an environmental concern – gets the attention it deserves. The integration of biodiversity into the investment process will likely be accelerated, and AllianzGI expects this to stimulate further client interest and new product development.
Regarding its proxy-voting policy, the Sustainability and Stewardship Report 2023 sets out concrete plans for 2024. AllianzGI intends to strengthen its voting policies around pay, gender diversity and climate. The company will update the voting policy to hold directors accountable if a company does not have a credible net-zero strategy in place. From 2024, large-cap investee companies globally (and from 2025 smaller companies) are expected to include ESG KPIs in their renumeration policies.
To access the report: https://www.allianzgi.com/sustainability/sustainability-report-2023
About Allianz Global Investors:
Allianz Global Investors is a leading active asset manager with over 600 investment professionals in over 20 offices worldwide and managing EUR 533 billion in assets. We invest for the long term and seek to generate value for clients every step of the way. We do this by being active – in how we partner with clients and anticipate their changing needs, and build solutions based on capabilities across public and private markets. Our focus on protecting and enhancing our clients’ assets leads naturally to a commitment to sustainability to drive positive change. Our goal is to elevate the investment experience for clients, whatever their location or objectives.
Data as at 31 December 2023. Total assets under management are assets or securities portfolios, valued at current market value, for which Allianz Global Investors companies are responsible vis-á-vis clients for providing discretionary investment management decisions and portfolio management, either directly or via a sub-advisor (these include Allianz Global Investors assets which are now sub-advised by Voya IM since 25 July 2022). This excludes assets for which Allianz Global Investors companies are primarily responsible for administrative services only. Assets under management are managed on behalf of third parties as well as on behalf of the Allianz Group.
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