Blog
A selection of articles and blog posts from the White Marble team.
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The recent Financial Services Forum posed the following question: ‘Is ESG still fit for purpose?’ By the end of the morning, the overarching consensus seemed to be “no”. That is not to say ESG is not fit for purpose from an investment perspective – rather from a marketing one. The reason for this is actually quite simple…
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It’s that time of year again… spring has sprung (in some places more than others), the end of the tax year has been and gone, and many of our clients are working full throttle on submissions to the FRC to obtain UK stewardship signatory status. We have provided consultancy to a raft of asset managers…
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What is the SFDR? The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) is a component of the European Commission’s Action Plan on Sustainable Finance. It was introduced in accordance with the EU’s goal of reaching Net-Zero by 2050, in line with the Paris agreement. The SFDR is an incredibly complex topic, but over the coming weeks we’ll…
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COP15 drew to a close earlier this week. The conference culminated in a groundbreaking biodiversity agreement that outlined ambitions to conserve 30% of the planet for nature and restore 30% of the planet’s degraded water-based ecosystems by 2030, as well as reform £410 billion of environmentally damaging incentives and subsidies. The framework addresses a number…
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An anti-ESG sentiment began to make waves across the financial services industry in the US this summer. This has only been compounded in the second half of the year so far, as we’ve seen an increase in anti-ESG litigation across states including Texas, Florida and Indiana. The most recent addition to the clamor was from…
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I haven’t had a bath in two years. In fact, having a bath is forbidden in my household these days, since my then 7-year-old came home from school one day and said: “We talked about climate change at school. We are in the middle of a climate crisis, and we all have to play our…
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Last Friday, I found myself at Sheltersuit Label’s collection debut at Palais de Tokyo in Paris. It is a new luxury streetwear line launched by a non-profit organisation, aimed at the wealthy, with the purpose of helping people at the opposite end of the economic scale. The show was a reality check and a source…
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In the week that we celebrated International Women’s Day, it was amazing to see so many women speak up for what they believe in. As our timelines were filled with #breakthebias in favour of greater equality, I reflected on how far we’ve come as a society and particularly, investment industry. When I spoke to our…
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At the beginning of this year, we worked with MainStreet Partners to produce the first ESG Barometer: an unbiased analysis of the ESG fund and ETF landscape. Easy-to-understand and consistent sustainability ratings are notoriously hard to find. The ESG Barometer aims to bring clarity to this situation. Updated annually, the report will aid investors in navigating the…
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A public attack of consumer goods company Unilever by one of the most influential investors in the UK has left some people scratching their heads and others cheering in accord. But whether we agree with Smith about Unilever’s sustainability credentials is rather beside the point. Terry Smith’s latest letter to shareholders features his usual frank, and some might say provocative approach to communicating with holders of his flagship fund. As a darling of retail investors, Smith’s Fundsmith Equity Fund has been…