Dialling down carbon intensity in portfolios could have less of an impact on risk and return than some might think, but the impact will vary depending on the sectors, styles and regions investors are weighted towards. Globally oriented investors can potentially reduce carbon intensity with a small addition of tracking error, but those wanting to address carbon intensity with a high exposure to Australian stocks might find it more difficult.
The debate over the importance of intangible assets continues, in academia and in the market. Parts of the investment community dispute the inclusion of intangible assets in a company’s asset base, claiming that the definition of intangibles is too restrictive or perhaps not restrictive enough.
Leveraging our recent paper, ‘Reducing carbon intensity in portfolios: Better news than you think’, which analysed the investment impact of reducing carbon exposure versus the benchmark; we turn our attention to how we can reduce carbon risk in our Value strategies. This aligns with our commitment to reducing carbon exposure across our strategies.
In 2025, First Sentier Group published our inaugural integrated Climate and Nature Report — an important milestone in our responsible investment journey.
We believe financial markets, critical to society’s ability to function, are under threat. For too long, it has been widely accepted that short-term performance, growth, risks and financial returns should be maximised at the expense of environmental and social outcomes.
Diversity is a business issue as well as an ethical one. There is a raft of research demonstrating that gender diversity contributes to better business and economic outcomes.
Last quarter I visited infrastructure companies in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. The trip included visits to ten corporate head offices and three site tours. This paper seeks to share some of the key findings from my meetings with Japanese passenger rail and utility companies.
Mergers and acquisitions activity within the global listed infrastructure asset class has been strong in 2025 and looks set to continue.
In September 2023, I met more than 30 global listed infrastructure companies and stakeholders from the UK, Europe and China. The following travel diary summarises my impressions and findings from these meetings.
The global political economy is rapidly evolving. The rules, norms and institutions that govern interactions between nation states are being upended, and the nature of capitalism is changing again. Having evolved in the past from laissez‑faire to Keynesianism to free market neoliberalism, it is now turning to nationalism with more state intervention.
Recently I attended the largest US utility conference, the 2024 Edison Electric Institute (EEI) Financial Conference, in Hollywood, Florida. I met with management teams from 26 regulated electric and gas utility companies.
Conventional economic theory assumes individuals are perfectly rational in their decision making under uncertainty. This is usually known as expected utility theory. It is different to prospect theory, which represents more how people actually behave (“irrationally”?) rather than how they are expected to behave.
This paper asserts that macro towers will remain at the heart of a modern, mobile data communications network despite the continual development of new technologies.
Airports have seen phenomenal traffic growth as people prioritise travel and experiences in the face of cost‑of‑living pressures.
Global listed infrastructure gave up ground in the December quarter as a 78 basis-point increase in US 10-year bond yields weighed on interest rate-sensitive assets.
Global Listed Infrastructure delivered strongly positive returns during the September quarter, aided by robust quarterly earnings numbers and the US Federal Reserve’s first interest rate cut since 2020.
Global Listed Infrastructure delivered positive returns during the June quarter, reflecting positive investor sentiment and generally robust fundamentals.
Global listed infrastructure eased during the June quarter against a backdrop of US tariff uncertainty and elevated geopolitical tension. The Fund returned -2.7% before fees, compared with a -4.0% return from its benchmark index.
2024 was a good year for global listed infrastructure. Strong earnings for energy midstream and a step-change in the earnings growth outlook for utilities helped the asset class to shrug off rising bond yields and political uncertainty.
Over the last decade the electricity sector has been at the forefront of decarbonisation, ahead of transport, industry and agriculture.
Global listed infrastructure underperformed in 2023 owing to rising interest rates and a shift away from defensive assets. Relative valuations are now at compelling levels. Infrastructure assets are expected to see earnings growth in 2024 and beyond, aided by structural growth drivers.
Global listed infrastructure gained during the March quarter as mounting tariff concerns drove a rotation into defensive assets. The Fund returned +2.5% after fees, compared with a +0.5% return from its benchmark index.
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