CBRE Investors fund tops ESG survey

A European fund managed by CBRE Investors has come out top in a global survey of environmental and social governance (ESG) awareness among asset managers by ING Real Estate Select.

The survey was carried out among the almost 100 funds in which ING Real Estate Select is invested. The ESG rating is based on the UN Principles of Responsible Investment.

ING RE Select said the CBRE fund scored the single highest ESG rating (84%) through the adoption of forward-leaning environmental and social governance policies and approaches, including clear targets, an offsetting approach to carbon footprints with reduction targets, asset certifications and occupier buy-in.

Australian funds - including GPT, Dexus Wholesale Property Group and the Lend Lease Group - topped the league for the second year in a row in terms of average ESG awareness. GPT was the top scoring Australian manager.

The survey results show that awareness of environmental and social governance factors continues to improve globally, following a trend set by Australian funds, whose corporate responsibility leads the world. Despite the improved awareness overall, implementation of ESG improved only slightly over last year.

The survey further shows that implementation of ESG improved most among funds that already have high levels of implementation, rather than across the board. Many best-in-class fund managers appear to set themselves increasingly higher standards in what is an evolving area of real estate investment management.

Throughout Europe, awareness of ESG among fund managers is relatively high and continues to increase, especially in the UK, which leads the continent. This result is likely linked to the fact that Europe shows the highest level of demand from tenants for environmentally and socially sustainable real estate. Nevertheless, the current trend in Europe seems to adopt new measures only slowly.

‘Managers continue to see the benefits of developing sustainable real estate, but the heterogeneous nature of the geographies and local market practices means implementation varies between respondents across the regions,’ said Justin Kean, investment manager with ING Real Estate Select’s global team.