𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝘂𝗺 𝗘𝗦𝗚 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗵 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘁.

The SEC has charged global asset manager Invesco Advisers Inc. for misleading claims about its ESG-related investments.

You can read the SEC's official findings here.

What happened?

The SEC found that Invesco overstated the extent to which ESG factors were integrated into its assets under management, prompting a $17.5 million civil penalty.

Invesco had made claims in its marketing materials from 2020 to 2022 that between 70% – 94% of its parent company’s assets under management were “ESG integrated”.

However, the SEC's investigation found that these amounts included a significant proportion of assets held in passive ETFs, that did not consider ESG factors in investment decisions.

The SEC also found that despite the ESG integration claims by the asset manager, the firm actually did not have "any written policy defining ESG integration.”

What does the data say?

This risk was captured on the Integrum ESG Platform, with the investment management company scoring just 0.5 on this issue out of a possible 4 — highlighting their lack of disclosure on their responsible marketing and labelling practices.

This case underscores the importance of transparency and robust policies, and follows a broader trend of regulatory crackdowns as authorities push back against greenwashing in response to rising concerns over the integrity of ESG claims.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸?

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