Responsible Investments Report 2021

Outlook 2022

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Outlook 2022 – Cross-currents ahead With only a few months to go until the implementation of the MiFID sustainability update in August 2022, investors have been abruptly and brutally reminded that geopolitical and governance risks are real and must be taken into account. At the same time, questions about uneven implementation of the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation and the upcoming MiFID sustainability update have already been raised. As always, NAM will stay true to our long history as an ESG investors and will serve clients across Europe and Globally with solutions that are fit for purpose.

Within the world of ESG invest- ing, 2022 was in any case going to be a year of change. Gliding on a path of success and following several years of explosive growth, the industry was working at full throttle to implement the concepts that will be key to the new MiFID regime.

Beginning in August, European retail investors can expect their financial adviser to ask them questions about their sustainabil- ity preferences. These questions, according to the European regulator, should be centred around three issues: The Principal Adverse Impacts (PAI) of their investments on environmental and social issues, and the proportion of “Sustainable Invest- ments”, and of EU Taxonomy-aligned investments, in a given investment product. How this will be implemented in prac- tice in each country remains unsettled, as distributors are still determining their approaches, and national regulators are in some cases adding so-called “gold-plating” (i.e. added require- ments) to the EU regulation.

Eric Pedersen Head of Responsible Investments

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