Biden’s ESG plans would put US in line with Europe
Newly-elected US President Joe Biden is expected to give a greater push towards environmental, social and governance (ESG) trends than his predecessor, believes deVere chief executive Nigel Green.
Appointed Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler was expected to take a tougher approach on issues like fossil fuels which would “usher in an era of serious momentum” for ESG in the US.
Biden’s campaign had also vowed to take swift action on tackling the climate emergency affecting the US and the world.
This would be good news for the ESG market as the US typically lagged behind its European counterparts when it came to sustainable and responsible investment.
Green said, if the US was put on the same ESG playing field as Europe where ESG was more common, this would open up the sector and could lead to strong inflows to ESG products.
“At the beginning of 2020, I described ESG investing as a ‘megatrend’ of the decade. And throughout the year inflow doubled and ESG funds outperformed the market,” he said.
“But the tag ‘megatrend’ would now seem somewhat underplayed if the US moves towards ESG-related regulatory reforms and comes into line with Europe.
“Responsible investing will become the ultimate investment megatrend should this happen.”
Last month, deVere announced it would offer free ESG advice to its clients and hoped to invest $1 billion in ESG products over the next five years.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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