Our survey findings reveal that many Asia-based fund managers
are at an early stage of their ESG journey. Many have policies in
place, but these may not be embedded in operations and
decision‑making. This is potentially dangerous as Asia fund
managers will increasingly be at risk of accusations of
“greenwashing,” the same criticism applied to many
businesses and investors in Europe and the United States, where
regulators are now working hard to tackle such concerns.
In this podcast, we explore the lessons that Asia fund managers
should learn from their European and U.S. counterparts to avoid
future accusations of greenwashing and we summarize how regulators
across the globe have stepped in with proposals for mandatory ESG
reporting. This includes recently issued guidance in Hong Kong for
SFC-authorized ESG funds to provide ongoing reporting and mandatory
ESG governance disclosures.