Most of largest asset managers don't meet 'basic criteria' for ESG investing – study

Global money managers with a combined $77 trillion of assets under management are failing to protect biodiversity, a ShareAction report Monday showed.

ShareAction said most managers — even top performers — fail to take into account the protection of important habitats, such as forests, rivers and oceans, when managing their investments.

The charity said there were serious gaps in the managers' responsible investment policies and practices as two-thirds of the 77 managers surveyed scored poorly, receiving a CCC rating or worse, in a ranking accompanying the report.

The report evaluates money managers in Europe, the U.S. and Asia-Pacific every two years on whether their investment policies focus on ESG indicators such as climate, biodiversity, social, governance and stewardship.

"A majority of the world's largest asset managers are failing to meet even basic criteria, let alone take the steps needed to help protect people and planet for generations to come," Claudia Gray, head of financial sector research at ShareAction, said in a news release Monday.

"As managers of tens of trillions of dollars, and investors in the biggest companies from many industries, their decisions have a vast impact all over the world," she said.

"They should be considering their effects on our climate, the ecosystems providing our life-support systems, and human wellbeing worldwide," she added.

ShareAction said European managers outperformed U.S. and Asia-Pacific managers in the latest ranking filling top 10 spots.

U.S. managers received the worst scores more than three times as frequently as European firms, ShareAction said.