Women will drive increasing investment into ESG funds globally over next decade
Women’s growing share of wealth and influence in the
asset management industry will spur increasing investment into environmental,
social and governance (ESG) funds worldwide over the next decade, according to
iClima Earth, a London-based impact fintech business.
In December 2020, iClima Earth launched the world’s first
ESG UCITS exchange traded fund (ETF) that provides exposure to companies
offering products and services that enable CO2e avoidance solutions and
quantify that impact.
The iClima Climate Change ETF (ticker: CLMA) launched via the HANetf platform and is
listed on the London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Boerse’s Xetra and Borsa
Italiana.
The ETF tracks the iClima
Global Decarbonisation Enablers Index which is up 95.39% over the last 12
months[1]. Past performance is no guarantee of future
performance. The index was built using a
tiered approach, meaning there is no over-exposure to large cap companies and
it provides a balanced exposure to the key climate change solutions
iClima says women are more concerned about ESG issues and
they will play a key role in directing more investment into sustainable
investments.
Academic research[2] found
in Professor Mauro Guillen’s book, ‘2030 – How today’s biggest trends will
collide and reshape the future of everything’, points to women accumulating
wealth faster than men: for example, in America women now receive most
undergraduate and graduate degrees, more than 40% of married mothers earn more
than their husbands and about 70% of mothers work full time outside of the
home.
Other research[3]
also shows that more women than men are interested in sustainable investing,
positive social impact investments and climate change.
Gabriela Herculano, CEO of the iClima Global
Decarbonisation Enablers ETF commented: “We have never been
so close to a scenario where women are co-ruling the world. Gender equality may
not be the norm even by 2030, but as women control more wealth
it is likely that they will steer the debate towards areas that concern them,
such as education, healthcare and sustainability.
“Women are much more interested in making an impact with
their investments and if they control half of the market for investments by
2030 it is highly likely that they will demand more ESG investment products.
“On the other hand, if more women are to be in investment
management – ETFs and beyond – it is also likely that a lot of supply and
innovation in sustainable financial products will be created and delivered by
women.”
Exchange traded funds (ETFs) account
for a substantial and growing share of ESG investments, seeing their largest
ever inflows in 2020[4].
When you trade ETFs your capital is at risk.
iClima Earth points to the growing
presence of female professionals in the ETF industry, as demonstrated by the
growth in membership of “Women in ETF - WE”, a not-for-profit organisation
founded by Deborah Fuhr in 2014 and now with over 5,600 members, as well as
notable industry leaders such as Catherine Wood, Founder, CEO and CIO of Ark
Investment Management.
The iClima Climate Change ETF has a TER of 0.65% and tracks the iClima
Global Decarbonisation Enablers Index, developed by iClima Earth. iClima Earth is a green fintech that creates
investment products targeting companies that make impactful contributions to
solving climate change.