National developments
- Finanzplatz-Initiative: The Finanzplatz-Initiative calls for Swiss financial institutions to align their business activities with climate and biodiversity targets and to cease financing or insuring new fossil fuel projects. AMAS opposes the initiative because it imposes one-sided and inflexible requirements that would undermine the competitiveness of Switzerland as a financial centre without making a measurable contribution to global climate or biodiversity protection. Read the AMAS Position.
- PACTA Climate Test Switzerland 2024: The FOEN has conducted the PACTA Climate Test 2024 for the fourth time (Paris Agreement Capital Transition Assessment). This shows how climate-friendly the portfolios of the participating Swiss financial institutions are. The results of the latest survey show that a majority of financial institutions have anchored the net-zero climate target in their corporate strategy. Of the 146 Swiss financial institutions that took part in the PACTA test, 26 were asset managers.
This means that the number of asset managers taking part has doubled compared to the PACTA test in 2022.
Of the 26 participants, 13 measured their equity and bond portfolios and a further 13 their property portfolios in terms of CO2 emissions. Of the 26 asset managers, around 45% have already committed to the net zero target by 2050. A further 20% want to have set the target by the end of 2024. 40% of asset manager portfolios are pursuing the Paris climate targets, while only 13.5% of banks are doing so, 13% of pension funds and 5% of insurers.
Only 13% of Swiss financial institutions already have a transition plan to align all their business activities or individual business areas with the net zero target by 2050 at the latest. According to the survey, over half of asset managers do not yet intend to implement a transition plan.
In the case of collective assets with a sustainability focus, 40% of the participating banks fulfill the AMAS self-regulation, while 30% of asset managers do. 20% of asset managers and 10% of banks state that they report partially in line with the self-regulation. In the PACTA test, asset managers operating as part of a bank were categorised as belonging to the banking sector.
The PACTA test also asked about the engagement and voting activities of financial institutions since these instruments are the most promising in terms of achieving climate targets. According to the test, over 40% of asset managers pursue targeted engagement activities at a portfolio level. The next PACTA Climate Test is planned for 2026.
Read the full report here
- Net-Zero Alliances: To achieve the goal of a climate-neutral economy, asset managers and financial institutions worldwide coordinate and commit in Net-Zero Alliances to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 at the latest. Joining a Net-Zero Alliance is also a specific recommendation of the Federal Council. AMAS was one of the first industry associations to join the Net-Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAMI) in December 2021 and has committed to promoting the initiative among its members. This initiative, as well as the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, fall under the umbrella organisation Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), which was established as part of the UN Climate Change Conference COP26.