Trailblazing asset owners are aiding cautious investors by adopting environmental, social and governance measures, as a special report researched by AsianInvestor reveals. Climate change is an integral part of ESG, but it is much broader than just that. Asia’s most vocal institutional investor proponent of ESG is Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF). GPIF’s full-throated endorsement of ESG, combined with its sheer size, offers a compelling argument for fund managers to adopt such principles. As calls to combat climate change rise, other Asian asset owners will feel pressurised to follow. “European institutions have traditionally been the worldwide leaders in ESG, with the US and Asia Pacific following. But we believe that GPIF taking this major step could catalyse investment in Asia Pacific and eventually put it on the same level as other regions,” said Reid Steadman, managing director and global head of ESG indices at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

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