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New York, December 6, 2023

Man Group plc (‘Man Group’) today announces its partnership with the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (‘CCSI’) – a joint center of Columbia Law School and Columbia Climate School – to conduct research addressing how climate impact is defined and measured in fixed income and equity portfolios.

“The investment industry plays an important role to facilitate a thoughtful and rapid transition to a net-zero greenhouse gas economy,” said Robert Furdak, Chief Investment Officer for Responsible Investment at Man Group. “There has been increased issuance of green bonds and significant investment in decarbonization technologies, however the impact of these efforts is undermined by inconsistent definitions, metrics, and measurement. Our joint research with the academic experts at CCSI will aim to produce a more refined decarbonization framework, which will bring rigor and greater standardization when calculating the climate impact of public market securities.”

While Man Group and CCSI’s research partnership will focus on identifying practical real-world gaps in methodologies and metrics concerning tradable instruments specifically; their articulation of key principles and standards hope to lay the groundwork for further scalable impact measurement across all asset classes of climate-solution-investing. The need for this work appears particularly acute in the high-emission sectors.

“Something that’s often overlooked is just how many institutions are required to make measurable progress in combatting climate change,” said Matt Goldklang, Climate Scientist at Man Numeric. “CCSI represents more than a leading multi-disciplinary research entity; they share our belief that nothing happens in a vacuum, and serve as a unifying force for legal, economy, and policy expertise to address real problems. Plus, they aren’t afraid to ask tough questions – questions that cause uncertainty and expose greenwashing – like how to better link climate science to investing in a low-carbon economy. We are really looking forward to partnering with Columbia on advancing the science, clearing up the uncertainty, and creating more practical, structured, and sustainable solutions for the industry.”

As part of their collaboration, Man Group and CCSI will identify existing industry challenges and develop solution-oriented frameworks for a path forward. They will then organize and facilitate a symposium workshop to solicit feedback from like-minded financial institutions, experts, standard setters, and Columbia faculty. The symposium will foster engaging discussions and debate surrounding the research findings and framework, which Man Group and CCSI will outline in a joint whitepaper on the agreed implementation methodology to ensure climate impact is achieved.

“Every partnership with CCSI must share a common goal of strengthening the sustainable development potential of international investment,” said Perrine Toledano, Director of Research and Policy for Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment. “We are thrilled to partner with Man Group in better arming the investment industry with the ability to measure the impact of transition-enabling climate solutions – an area with significant potential to help mitigate climate change.”