Sustainable Finance is at a turning point.
Recent developments in responsible investments and growing awareness of the risks of global warming is now affecting financial investments. The measures adopted on a world scale testify this transition.
LuxFLAG grows 30% and appoints Denise Voss as new Chairwoman
During LuxFLAG’s Annual General Meeting, the non-profit association reported a 30% increase in the number of labels issued in 2018, and labelled fund assets under management increased by more than 50%. In addition, LuxFLAG saw its Associate Member network grow by almost 70% in one year – a clear statement of the current momentum of sustainable finance.
LuxFLAG announces the appointment of Denise Voss as new Chairwoman of the labelling agency active in sustainable finance. She takes up the chairmanship from Thomas Seale after the successful completion of his seven years leading the Board. Furthermore, Sachin Vankalas, former Director of Operations and Sustainability at LuxFLAG, has been appointed General Manager succeeding Mario Mantrisi.
As Chairwoman of LuxFLAG, Denise Voss will draw upon her extensive experience in the fund industry, having worked in leading finance positions in Luxembourg since 1990. “I am excited to take up this new role in chairing LuxFLAG.” said Denise Voss, former Chairman of ALFI, the Luxembourg fund association. “LuxFLAG has demonstrated tremendous achievements in the past years for which I would like to congratulate and thank the outgoing Chairman and everyone involved. The EU’s ambitious action plan and the high demand for transparency in sustainable investments vouch for LuxFLAG’s vital role in the industry. I am eager to drive forward the association’s central position in securing investor trust.”
Thomas Seale, the outgoing Chairman, said: “Since 2006, LuxFLAG has been shaping sustainable investments as a frontrunner in Luxembourg and beyond through a unique public-private partnership constellation. Having been involved with the association since its birth and seeing the crucial role it plays today, I can testify the truly remarkable progress made. I am sure Denise and Sachin and the whole team will be more than successful in continuing to shape the bright future of sustainable finance.”
Sachin Vankalas, new General Manager, who has been leading the operations and sustainability processes since 2011, will build on his deep knowledge and expertise in the sustainable investment market. “LuxFLAG has been thriving.” said Sachin Vankalas. “We want to build on these achievements, promote the opportunities that sustainability brings to the financial sector and showcase how impactful and game-changing social and environmentally-focused investments can be. As a torchbearer for transparency, high-quality processes and in-depth analyses through our labels will remain an utmost important driver for the association to guarantee the necessary credibility towards investors.”
Sustainable finance is today a top priority for investors, asset managers and the financial industry at large. As the interest in and implementation of more sustainable practices are growing, transparency and quality of sustainable investment products remain a key requirement to safeguard sustainable development. As of 20 June 2019, LuxFLAG issued 136 labels to investment vehicles with 53.4 billion EUR AUM from five different jurisdictions (Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Germany and Ireland) and 83 Associate Members.
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Note to editors:
LuxFLAG, the Luxembourg Finance Labelling Agency, is an independent and international, nonprofit organisation created in Luxembourg in July 2006 jointly by public and private partners. The Charter Members of LuxFLAG are the Luxembourg Government (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs), The Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI), The Luxembourg Bankers’ Association (ABBL), Appui au Développement Autonome (ADA), the European Investment Bank (EIB), Luxembourg for Finance (LFF) and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LSE). LuxFLAG aims to promote the raising of capital for the Sustainable Finance sector by awarding a recognisable label to eligible investment vehicles in Climate Finance, ESG (Environment, Microfinance, Social, and Governance), Environment, Microfinance, and Green bonds. The LuxFLAG Labels are recognized for high standards and rigorous assessment of applicant investment fund’s investment holdings, strategy and procedures with respect to Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) matters as well as an affirmation of their transparency to investors – which are key components of the eligibility criteria for the LuxFLAG labels.
For further information, do not hesitate to consult our website at www.luxflag.org
To keep up with all the news from LuxFLAG and the Sustainable Finance industry, follow us on LinkedIn and, Twitter (@LuxFLAG)
LuxFLAG awards new labels to 20 investment funds, labelling now 136 investment products in total.
The ESG Label has been awarded to 17 funds:
The ESG Label has been renewed for the following 5 funds:
The Environment Label has been granted to 2 funds
The Microfinance Label has been granted to 1 fund:
The Microfinance Label has been renewed for 4 funds:
As of 1 July 2019, LuxFLAG labels 136 investment products (32 Microfinance, 9 Environment, 63 ESG, 4 Climate Finance, 7 Applicant fund status and 21 Green Bonds).
If you are interested in labelling your sustainable investment product, kindly contact us for further information.
The Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI) held its annual Frankfurt Roadshow on Tuesday, 11 June 2019, at the Marriott Hotel.
LuxFLAG Board Member, Maria Löwenbrück, moderated a panel discussion on “Sustainable investments moving niche to mainstream”
LuxFLAG was pleased to organise a breakfast seminar on the topic ‘social investment’ on 18th June 2019. The event took place in the premises of KBL Luxembourg.
Lionel Dieu, Fund Manager at Incofin (Belgium) and Adriana Balducci, Senior Consultant at Innpact (Luxembourg) were the main speakers.
The seminar focused on social investments and how to address the imperative of creating measurable impact. More specifically, the speakers discussed techniques and frameworks used in practice and how do social impact investment funds operate in order to advance financial inclusion. The seminar concluded with an explanation on how impact investing contributes to SDG’s and EU initiatives followed by a Q&A session.
More than 50 delegates attended the seminar.
The Luxembourg Finance Labelling Agency (LuxFLAG) is pleased to announce that, Mr. Sachin Vankalas has been appointed as General Manager of the agency as of 1st June 2019. He will be taking over from Mr. Mario Mantrisi.
Mr. Thomas Seale, Chairman of LuxFLAG’s Board of Directors, said: “We are grateful for Mario’s leadership of our agency over the 17 months and are delighted at the appointment of Mr. Sachin Vankalas who has been leading the operations and sustainability processes at LuxFLAG since 2011 and will build on his deep knowledge and expertise in the sustainable investment market.”
“LuxFLAG has been thriving.” said Sachin Vankalas. “We want to build on these achievements, promote the opportunities that sustainability brings to the financial sector and showcase how impactful and game-changing social and environmentally-focused investments can be. As a torchbearer for transparency, high-quality processes and in-depth analyses through our labels will remain an utmost important driver for the organization to guarantee the necessary credibility towards investors.”
LuxFLAG has become an industry reference for labelling sustainable finance products over the past decade. Currently LuxFLAG operates five labels, with 117 labelled investment products worth 48.9 billion EUR.
To download the picture of Sachin Vankalas, please click here.
To download the biography of Sachin Vankalas, please click here.
To download the LuxFLAG logo, please click here.
About LuxFLAG:
LuxFLAG, the Luxembourg Finance Labelling Agency, is an independent and international, nonprofit organisation created in Luxembourg in July 2006 jointly by public and private partners. The Charter Members of LuxFLAG are the Luxembourg Government (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs), The Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI), The Luxembourg Bankers’ Association (ABBL), Appui au Développement Autonome (ADA), the European Investment Bank (EIB), Luxembourg for Finance (LFF) and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LSE). LuxFLAG aims to promote the raising of capital for the Sustainable Finance sector by awarding a recognisable label to eligible investment vehicles in Climate Finance, ESG (Environment, Microfinance, Social, and Governance), Environment, Microfinance, and Green bonds. The LuxFLAG Labels are recognized for high standards and rigorous assessment of applicant investment fund’s investment holdings, strategy and procedures with respect to Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) matters as well as an affirmation of their transparency to investors – which are key components of the eligibility criteria for the LuxFLAG labels.
As at 31st May 2019, 117 investment vehicles worth approx. 49 billion AuM were granted the use of LuxFLAG labels. Additionally, the agency maintains a strong network of 82 Associate Members, which are active in the Sustainable Finance sectors.
For more information, please contact info@luxflag.org or +352 2230 26 40
Increasing awareness of matters such as social inclusion, climate change and political achievements like the Paris Agreement has led society forward in the goal of sustainable development. And the financial sector has had and still has its own role to play. Institutional investors have made their voice heard through prominent divestments from controversial assets
*This article was first published in a quarterly magazine ‘Ascent’ of DPAM on 15 May 2019
Thomas Seale and Sachin Vankalas (LuxFLAG) took part as speakers in the ALFI London Conference on May 8th, where sustainabile finance was part of the agenda. The sustainability roundtable focused on Luxembourg’s Sustainable Finance toolkit and the current state of the industry considering disclosure and transparency requirements. The session was moderated by Corinne Molitor (Innpact); Jenny de Nijs (Luxembourg Ministry of Finance), Gast Juncker (Elvinger Hoss Prussen), Jean-Baptiste Oldenhove (EstariGroup), Sandra Crowl (Carmignac) and Sachin Vanklas (LuxFLAG) joined as panelists.
The International Climate Finance Accelerator has selected a new cohort of impact & climate finance fund start-ups that will benefit from the acceleration programme.
The winners are Terra Global, a climate mitigation and REDD+ fund project investing in Colombian landscape management and forestry; Social Investment Managers & Advisors / Clean Cooking Alliance, a climate mitigation fund project investing in African clean cook stoves; Add Value SA, a climate adaptation fund project investing in Central American small holder farmers; Camco Clean Energy, a climate mitigation fund project investing in African energy efficiency; and as a special award Dao Foods, a climate mitigation and adaptation fund project investing in Chinese plant based food production.
The ICFA Luxembourg is a Public Private Partnership, under the Luxembourg Climate Finance Strategy, iniated by 9 private entities of the Luxembourg financial sector (Arendt & Medernach, Deloitte, Elvinger Hoss Prussen, EY, Innpact, Investing for Development, KPMG, LuxFLAG and PWC), and the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Infrastructure.
The Luxembourg Finance Labelling Agency is an independent and international non-profit association created in Luxembourg in July 2006 by seven private and public founding partners to support sustainable finance: the Luxembourg Government, ALFI, ABBL, ADA, the European Investment Bank, Luxembourg for Finance and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (Charter members). In 2023, ACA has become the eighth Charter Member of LuxFLAG.
