Responsible investment in times of COVID

COVID-19 represents the greatest disruption of our times, and continues to test us all, including the responsible investment and sustainable finance sector. But how are responsible, ethical and impact investors responding? How are responsible investment funds performing to the rest of the market? How can we best navigate these times and shift capital towards sustainable assets and companies to rebuild a stronger more resilient future?

Access the latest insights, new events and different resources related to COVID-19.

INSIGHTS AND THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

RIAA’s briefing note ‘COVID-19 and financial performance of responsible investments’, June 2020.
‘Will COVID-19 fiscal recovery packages accelerate or retard progress on climate change?’, Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, May 2020
‘Responsible investment prevails over virus adversity‘, The Australian Financial Review (paywall applies), July 2020
‘Business chiefs urge PM to invest sustainably for COVID-19 recovery‘, The Age, July 2020
‘Recovery must be green, say big banks’, The Australian Financial Review’ (paywall applies), May 2020
‘Compounding crises are what we’ve been rehearsing for’, Simon O’Connor, April 2020
‘COVID-19 shows universal owners need active ownership to safeguard social assets and advocate for principled political economy’, Susheela da Costa Peres, Responsible Investor, March 2020
‘Resetting with positive impact in the midst of COVID-19’, Erin Castellas and Caitlin Medley, April 2020

POLICY RELATED

Statement from the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative calling for a COVID-19 recovery that is aligned with delivering on our Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goal commitments (May 2020)
Joint letter to the Australian Government, coordinated by the Global Compact Network Australia, to use the SDGs as a framework for economic recovery (August 2020)
Report prepared for The Aotearoa Circle to inform the Fenwick Forum. The aim of the Forum is to ensure COVID-19 recovery investment supports both economic recovery and ultimate protection and restoration of our natural environment (June 2020)
Joint statement – calling for the building of a stronger and cleaner post-pandemic Australia – from the Australian Conservation Foundation, Australian Council of Social Service, Australian Council of Trade Unions, Australian Energy Council, Australian Industry Group, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Business Council of Australia, Carbon Markets Institute, Energy Efficiency Council, Energy Users’ Association of Australia, Investor Group on Climate Change, Master Electricians Australia, Property Council of Australia, St Vincent de Paul Society and WWF Australia

RESEARCH

‘MSCI ESG Indexes during the coronavirus crisis’, MSCI, April 2020
‘What are companies doing to tackle the crisis?’, Schroders, April 2020
‘Does ESG stack up?’, Fidelity International, April 2020
‘Coronavirus: How ESG scores signalled resilience in the Q1 market downturn’, AXA Investment Managers, April 2020
‘How does European sustainable funds’ performance measure up?’, Morningstar, June 2020
‘Corporate Resilience and Response during COVID-19‘, Harvard Business School and State Street Associates, June 2020
‘Sustainable Investment: Resilience amid Uncertainty‘, BlackRock, 2020
‘Why COVID-19 could prove to be a major turning point for ESG investing‘, J.P. Morgan, July 2020
‘COVID-19 and inequality: a Test of Corporate Purpose‘, KKS Advisers, Sep 2020