In our most recent podcast we bring to you an insightful conversation on ESG investing within a public markets context with Leslie Nicholson, Chief Product Officer of BITA. BITA is an index provider that is making indexing more accessible to a wider audience.
Globally, ESG assets are on track to exceed US$53 trillion dollars by 2025, more than a third of the US$140 trillion in projected total assets under management. To say that asset managers cannot afford to ignore ESG is an understatement.
Leslie explains how technology is reshaping the landscape by offering innovative indexing and rule-based solutions that create scalability and remove subjectivity from the process. This is enabling the use of very sophisticated and tailored portfolios well beyond the formation of ETFs. For example, custom portfolios can be created for individual investors based on their specific preferences and criteria. This offers the prospect of real differentiation in the marketplace for wealth and asset managers that offer these solutions to their clients.
On top of introducing rules into portfolios relating to ESG, direct indexing adds another layer that can bring additional benefits to investors. One popular and relevant example in North America at the moment is tax loss harvesting. Stay tuned for another post on this topic!
