Asian asset managers are significantly behind their European counterparts when it comes to addressing climate change and other environmental concerns within portfolios, according to a report by the WWF. Asian asset managers fulfil just 43 percent of WWF’s criteria for sustainable investments which cover six areas: purpose, policies, processes, people, products and portfolio. This compares to European asset managers who fulfilled 72 percent. And of those headquartered in Asia, Japan was the leader in responsible investment practices. The «RESPOND 2021» report is aligned with the framework built by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). WWF highlighted a number of shortcomings observed from surveying the eight Asia-headquartered asset managers. For example, neither of the two Chinese asset managers surveyed disclosed information regarding their engagements with the firms they invest in over ESG (environmental, social and governance) issues. Only half of the regional subgroup disclosed their roles in collaborative engagement initiatives with all being Japanese houses. Just two Asian asset managers disclosed their full proxy voting records and only one reported support for ESG resolutions.

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