Mandatum Life has measured the carbon footprint of the unit-linked assets it manages for the third time. The carbon footprint of equity investments fell compared to the previous year. In fixed income investments, the carbon footprint exceeded the benchmark index, mostly due to the change in the amount of debt in investee companies, which were overweight in individual portfolios. The annual carbon footprint of the investments totalled 980,257 CO2 tonnes. The carbon footprint grew compared to the previous year, which was largely the result of an increase in the volume of managed assets.
“The declining trend in the climate risk of our equity investments was significant. We take the growth in fixed income investments’ climate risk seriously and we have taken measures to reduce climate risks also in our fixed income investments. The total emissions of the companies raising the measurement results of our fixed income investments have not, however, grown significantly compared to the previous year, which is the most important thing for the climate,” says Mandatum Life’s Head of Multi-Asset Solutions, Carolus Reincke.
In addition to the carbon footprint relative to companies’ equity and debt capital, Mandatum Life also releases the average carbon intensity of its unit-linked assets. Carbon intensity proportions the investees’ emissions with annual net sales and thus reflects the efficiency of companies’ business relative to climate risks. The carbon intensity of Mandatum Life’s unit-linked assets was better than the market on average, 94% compared to the market index.
As a member of the Portfolio Decarbonization Coalition investor network, Mandatum Life’s objective is to minimise investments’ emissions globally by actively managing the climate risks of investment operations and offering opportunities to invest in companies with a smaller carbon footprint. Through the UN’s Montréal Pledge, Mandatum Life annually publishes its investment emissions’ measurement results.
Summary of the results (previous year’s comparable figures in parentheses)
- In absolute terms, the carbon footprint of investments was 980,257 CO2 tonnes (780,948)
- The carbon footprint relative to the volume of assets was 330 CO2 tonnes/million € (288)
- The carbon footprint of equity investments relative to the volume of assets was 95 CO2 tonnes/million € (120)
- The carbon footprint of fixed income investments relative to the volume of assets was 527 CO2 tonnes/million € (367)
- The carbon footprint relative to the benchmark indices was 112% (76)
- The average carbon intensity of the investments was 259 CO2 tonnes/million € and 94% relative to the market indices
Investors can check the carbon footprints of individual investment baskets in the investments’ monthly reviews.
How the measurement was carried out:
- The measurement covered the investment assets managed by Mandatum Life within the company’s own investment baskets, full-mandate wealth management and allocation investment baskets, per the situation on 31 Dec 2017.
- The measurement was carried out by ISS Ethix.
- The measurement covers approximately 90 per cent of the unit-linked investment assets managed by Mandatum Life Investment Services Ltd.
- Consultative wealth management, structural investments or index investment baskets were not taken into account in the measurement.
- The carbon footprint of the investees is based on ISS Ethix’s data on emissions in 2017.
Additional information:
Carolus Reincke, Head of Multi-Asset Solutions, carolus.reincke@mandatumlife.fi, tel. +358 50 355 4540
Niina Riihelä, Vice President, Marketing and Communications: niina.riihela@mandatumlife.fi, tel. +358 40 728 1548