Brussels (Brussels Morning) The US investment management corporation BlackRock pointed out on Wednesday that about 17% of the assets it manages that fall under the EU’s environmental, governance and social rules are classed as sustainable, Reuters reports.
BlackRock asserted that roughly 70% of funds repositioned or launched in Europe in 2020 should be classed as sustainable.
Thomas Fekete, head of BlackRock Sustainable Investing for Europe, Middle East and Africa, noted “our ambition is to move more money into sustainable products than any other asset manager in Europe”, reaffirming the company’s determination to become the regional leader in the segment.
SFDR to boost transparency
The EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), which is to be gradually implemented from this week on, aims to increase transparency and to introduce standardised classification to the sustainable financial products segment.
According to lawmakers, new regulations should prevent inaccurate classification of investment projects as green by forcing investors to be transparent about their methods for assessing the environmental, governance and social impacts of projects.
BlackRock, which manages roughly 2.4 trillion dollars in the EU and 8.7 trillion globally, expects SFDR to drive up demand for sustainable financial products in the EU. The corporation highlighted the fact that more investors are supporting the global push towards an environmentally friendly economy.
New classification
According to the new criteria, funds will be classified as Article 6, 8 or 9, meaning, not focussed on sustainability; partly or fully focussed on sustainability, social or environmental issues; or fully focussed on sustainability.
BlackRock stressed that approximately 332 billion euro worth of assets covered by SFDR should be classed as Article 9 or 8 from day one. The hope is that, over time, the corporation will be able to “provide a transition opportunity” for the majority of the assets it manages in Europe and that it will be able to offer its clients sustainable alternatives.
