Netherlands asset manager NN Investment Partners to set up responsible investing hub in Singapore

NN Investment Partners, an asset manager from Netherlands, will be establishing a responsible investing hub in Singapore - its first outside its home country.

At the same time, the asset manager intends to further develop its product offerings in ESG-integrated (environment, social and governance) solutions in Asia, as part of its push to increase focus on responsible investing in this region.

These developments come on the back of increasing focus from Asian investors and companies on ESG-integrated solutions and sustainable business practices, said the asset manager in a statement on Monday.

NN Investment Partners is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands, and is the asset manager of NN Group, a publicly traded company listed on Euronext Amsterdam. As at March 31, 2021, it managed about 293 billion euros (US$345 bilion) in assets for institutions and individual investors worldwide.

Since the formation of NN Investment Partners' responsible investing team in The Hague, the Netherlands in early 2017, active involvement in sustainability-related matters in Asia and engagement with corporates and sovereigns in the region has accelerated, it added.

Three specialists will lead NN Investment Partners' stewardship and engagement activities on responsible investment-related trends and topics in the Asia-Pacific region, including a senior ESG expert to head up the responsible investing team.

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It will also appoint dedicated ESG research analysts to engage with Asian corporates on ESG topics and contribute to the deepening of ESG research and reporting tools, particularly for the Asian credit and Emerging Markets debt strategies managed out of Singapore.

The head of the Asian responsible investing team will report to the head of Innovation and Responsible Investing Platform in The Hague, Arnoud Diemers, as well as local CEO, Gopi Mirchandani. The responsible investing team will be established at the beginning of 2022.

At present, the asset manager's existing product suite of ESG-integrated strategies that invest in the Asian region includes Asian debt, Asian High Yield and China A shares equity, managed together with partner China Asset Management Company. Going forward, the focus will be on developing additional ESG-integrated Asian credit strategies.

These products will be managed by the investment team based in Singapore led by Joep Huntjens, head of Asian Fixed Income. In expanding the product suite, NN Investment Partners will leverage the team's expertise in bottom-up credit selection, the use of its proprietary ESG scoring framework, and focus on companies with positive ESG momentum.

Adrie Heinsbroek, chief sustainability officer, NN Investment Partners, said that having a responsible investing team based in Singapore "underscores the importance of stewardship for environmentally and socially sound value creation", as well as sustains its efforts in engaging with private and sovereign issuers by supporting their investment needs.

"As one of the largest active green bond investors in the world, we have anticipated growth in Asian financial markets and will work with local and regional issuers to make the transition to green financing a logical next step," he added.

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