Global State of ESG: Forging Ahead Amidst Heightened Regulatory Scrutiny and Investor Skepticism
May 16, 2023
What you need to know about the state of ESG investing globally.
Asset owners and managers remain focused on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives even as two valid challenges—“greenwashing” and investors’ negative perceptions of ESG fund performance—loom. To mitigate these challenges, regulatory guidance is needed to better define what constitutes sustainability in an investment fund, and firms will need to level set expectations for ESG investments to curb investor cynicism.
Key Highlights
Defining ESG
ESG is a nebulous concept that defies any simple description. Cerulli breaks down ESG into three key objectives—values alignment, value enhancement/risk mitigation, and positive impact/thematic investing.
Regulatory Efforts
Governmental bodies around the globe have stepped up their efforts to mitigate greenwashing. Outside of Europe, enforcement of greenwashing remains in a more nascent phase, although Cerulli observes noteworthy progress.
Product Positioning
Investor skepticism of ESG investing continues to be a major challenge, yet asset managers are forging ahead with product development, sales, and marketing of ESG products.
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Report Authors
Leena Dagade
Associate Director
Bio →
Leena Dagade
Associate Director
Based in Cerulli's Singapore office, Leena is responsible for retail research in the Asian asset management industry. She is the lead analyst for the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) research practice in Asia and contributes to Asian institutional reports, Cerulli Edge publications, and consulting projects.
Prior to joining Cerulli, she was a deputy editor for an online financial publishing firm, covering the asset and wealth management industry in Asia. Previously, she worked with a real-time financial news and market data firm and an asset management company.
Full biography here.
Justina Deveikyte, CAIA
Director
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Justina Deveikyte, CAIA
Director
Justina joined Cerulli Associates in February 2014 and heads the European Institutional Asset Management research practice. In her role, she is responsible for all research activities relating to institutional investors, the firm’s analysis of alternative investments, the environmental, social, governance (ESG) section, and all data-science-based activities. She also contributes to multiple strategic consulting engagements and The Cerulli Edge series.
Justina is the lead author of several Cerulli reports, covering insurance, retirement, ESG, and alternative investments. Throughout her career, she has successfully developed partnerships with industry associations and has presented at several conferences and events across the Europe.
Prior to joining Cerulli, Justina was a Financial Manager and Global Analyst at Global Food Consulting; she previously has provided professional advice on banking products, including unit-linked insurance and third-pillar pension products at SEB Bank Group.
Full biography here.
David Fletcher
Associate Director
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David Fletcher
Associate Director
Dave oversees the editorial production process for The Cerulli Report series and The Cerulli Edges and contributes articles to the U.S. and Global Edge publications. He also supports Cerulli’s marketing and design team, including writing and editing white papers, reviewing press releases, website copy, social media, videos, and promotional media.
Prior to joining Cerulli, Dave produced and edited content for a variety of websites, publishing companies, and media developers.
Full biography here.
Michele Giuditta, CFA
Director
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Michele Giuditta, CFA
Director
Michele is a director of the Institutional practice and leads research for annual reports and strategic consulting engagements. She specializes in environmental, social, and governance investing and outsourced CIO research.
Prior to joining Cerulli Associates, Michele worked at Cambridge Associates as an Associate Director in the Client Relationship Management Group. Additionally, she worked at Manulife Asset Management in the Institutional Investment Sales & Services Group, and held roles in Product Management and Client Relationship Management. She began her career as an analyst in the Investment Policy & Research Group at John Hancock.
Full biography here.
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