MUFG’s Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation and its asset management subsidiary First Sentier Investors (FSI) announced today the launch of the First Sentier MUFG Sustainable Investment Institute, aimed at meeting growing investor needs for neutral, practical research on sustainable investment.

Mark Steinberg, CEO of First Sentier Investors, said:

“First Sentier Investors and MUFG are aligned in understanding the importance of sustainable investing to our clients. We therefore decided to come together as a joint venture to help promote, influence and shape the debate around sustainability in the investment industry.

“The institute will commission and deliver research on sustainability and responsible investment topics in greater depth and with greater academic rigour than either First Sentier Investors or MUFG would do on their own. We hope that in time, this research is influential in helping both ourselves and our clients to better understand the issues in this area, and in fact as an organization for us to focus more broadly on our impact on society.”

According to MUFG and FSI, the institute’s research aims to help investors, individuals, companies, policy makers and regulators understand how their decisions can contribute to better outcomes for the environment and society. Topics for research may include behavioural, societal, cultural, macro and systemic changes, impacts of regulation and how such trends impact the performance of companies, sectors, and economies, and influence the allocation of capital by investors.

Steinberg added:

“We recognize that our clients are viewing issues around sustainability and sustainable investing with far more urgency than they used to, and so this is an area of far more intense focus for us.”