S&P Dow Jones Indices, the global leader for benchmarks and indices, has joined direct indexing fintech C8 Technologies' growing technology platform. 

Investors are starting to reduce their emerging markets equity allocations due to fears of a growth slowdown in China, cutting back on significantly overweight positions they built during the country’s rapid economic recovery from coronavirus last year.

RepRisk, an ESG data science firm combining machine learning and human intelligence to identify ESG risks, has partnered with B3, the exchange in South America, to update the B3 Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE B3). RepRisk ESG risk data on 1,000 Brazilian companies is now integrated into the selection and scoring algorithm of ISE B3, and will be used in portfolio screening and monitoring processes by B3. The enhanced ISE B3 index algorithm leverages ESG risk criteria for deploying more impactful passive investment strategies and drives sustainable capital allocation in the South American market. 

KSM Mutual Funds has licensed the Indxx Global Digital Healthcare Index to serve as the underlying benchmark for KSM KTF (4D) Indxx Global Digital Healthcare Dollar Hedge (Tel Aviv: 05133418).

Zurich UK has switched almost USD1 billion of its investment portfolio into a new ESG benchmark as it continues to take action to curb carbon emissions. 

Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest digital currency asset manager, and CoinDesk Indexes, a subsidiary of CoinDesk Inc, have launched the Grayscale Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Fund, a new diversified investment product, and the CoinDesk DeFi Index.

Hang Seng Indexes Company has launched the HSCEI ESG NTR KRW Hedged 40 Points Decrement Index.

For more than a decade now, cryptocurrencies, utility tokens, security tokens have played a significant role and grabbed many financial companies' attention. In 2019, many large institutions started protecting investors from cryptocurrencies; in contrast, some significant exchanges have started providing bitcoin’s derivatives.  

As global demand for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investment strategies continues to increase, asset managers are questioning their ability to keep up with demand as they grapple with the issue of how to better define and measure sustainable investments.

Asset managers are warning that new sustainable finance rules in Europe could end up reducing financing to emerging economies, where capital is most needed to fund the renewable energy transition.