The Swiss private bank's 100 percent sustainable portfolio, launched just two years ago, has passed $10 billion in invested assets, it said in a statement.
Given continued successes in thematic and sustainable investing, the bank is also expanding its private client investment offering with the release of a white paper and investment offering focused on the future of waste, including a new framework for «waste reduction bonds,» the statement on Monday said.
The white paper is part of UBS' new «Future Of» series, which focuses on «challenges that resonate strongly with clients and provide associated investment solutions across public and private markets.» Mark Haefele, CIO at UBS Global Wealth Management, said upcoming themes in the series «will have a strong sustainable component, but will venture beyond pure sustainability considerations.»
The statement also announced a $4 billion donation to the UBS Oncology Impact Fund – which at its launch was the largest ever healthcare impact investment – to be split equally between the UBS Optimus Foundation and the American Association for Cancer Research.
Future of Waste
According to the white paper, which focuses on the impacts of waste and opportunities in waste reduction, the cost of food waste – caused by supply chain inefficiencies in developing economies, and consumers buying more food than they end up consuming in richer nations – is $1 trillion globally, while 10 percent of the global population lacks sufficient food.
At the same time, only 4 percent of green bonds actively address waste, according to the paper, which presents a framework for waste reduction bonds.
The paper also highlighted the issue of plastic waste in the sea, which could outweigh fish by 2050, if left unchecked.
Growing Asia Interest
Private banking clients in the region have invested $600 million since the launch of the sustainable fund in Asia in April 2018, Mario Knoepfel, head of sustainable investing advisory for Asia-Pacific, UBS Global Wealth Management, told «Citywire Asia» in October.
Min Lan Tan, head of Impact Investment Office, APAC, noted in UBS' «Sustainable investing in Asia» report in September the growing interest in ESG investing, led by a shift by Asian governments towards sustainable investing to help tackle broader policy concerns.
«Asian asset owners have embraced SI because of the increasing acceptance that SI does not compromise financial returns or performance,» the report said, adding that SI can lower downside risk from «stranded assets» created by climate change and transition risk.
