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- Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) license FTSE Russell’s enhanced Green Revenue 2.0 Data Model, launched in September 2020, for the multi-asset climate solutions fund
- ASI’s new multi-asset climate solutions fund will use the data to identify investment opportunities and to comply with the EU Taxonomy requirements, set to come into force by the end of 2021
- The enhanced data model provides comprehensive coverage of 10 sectors, 64 sub-sectors and 133 micro-sectors
- Research shows that the green economy is worth approximately $4 trillion, representing 5% of the market capitalisation of all global listed companies
FTSE Russell, the global index, data and analytics provider, has been selected by Aberdeen Standard Investments to provide its recently enhanced Green Revenues 2.0 data model for use in the global asset manager’s suite of climate funds, including the new Multi-Asset Climate Solutions (MACS) Fund (the Fund).
The Fund’s portfolio is invested across equities, fixed income, real-estate and listed renewable energy infrastructure trusts where more than 50% of company revenue derives from ‘green’ economic activities as defined by FTSE Russell’s taxonomy of green revenues. The methodology has a very high overlap to the EU Taxonomy of sustainable economic activities.
FTSE Russell’s Green Revenues 2.0 Data Model measures the green revenue exposure of more than 16,000 listed companies across 48 developed and emerging markets, representing 98.5% of the total global market value of listed companies. In total, 10 sectors, 64 sub-sectors and 133 micro-sectors are covered.
The enhanced model offers greater granularity at the sub-sector level, in addition to a green ‘tiering’ system is also applied to determine net environmental impact based on seven environmental objectives, recognising that green revenues come in lighter and darker ‘shades.
The data model can also be used for a growing number of regulatory reporting needs, including climate performance against Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) requirements and EU Taxonomy regulation.
Over a decade of green revenues data is available, dating back to 2008, enabling investors to back test investment strategies and track a company’s progress in achieving green standards.
Craig Mackenzie, lead fund manager of MACS, Aberdeen Standard Investments, said:
“We are very excited to be launching the Multi-Asset Climate Solutions Fund which will provide investors with the opportunity to allocate their savings to companies which will play a pivotal role in mitigating climate change. The market-leading green revenue data provided by FTSE Russell plays a key part in that process.”
Arne Staal, Global Head of Research and Product Management, FTSE Russell, said:
“We are delighted that ASI has selected our Green Revenues 2.0 data for the launch of its innovative new multi-asset climate fund. ASI has been early to recognise that green revenues data used to quantify a fund’s alignment to the green economy will be essential in complying with the incoming EU Taxonomy disclosure requirements for sustainable investment products by the end of 2021.
“Yet, the asset management sector still has a long way to go to achieve compliance and meet this important deadline. As ESG fund inflows continue to grow significantly and with a proliferation of standards and market definitions available, investors will need to understand how to comply with these rules set to introduce welcome standardisation and transparency to the market.
“High quality, comparable and relevant underlying sustainable investing data, available at scale will be a critical part of the compliance toolkit. Our Green Revenues 2.0 solution does just that, providing data for 16,000 listed companies globally and we expect further interest from other large global investment managers.”
* The 10 sectors are Energy generation; Energy equipment; Energy markets and efficiency; Environmental resources; Environmental support services; Food and agriculture; Transport equipment; Transport solutions; Waste and pollution control; and Water infrastructure and technology.
