In our latest webcast, Ana Giraldo, Chief Risk Officer, is interviewed by Phoebe Jordan, Corporate Development Manager, about the introduction of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks to Thomas Murray's CSD risk assessments.
ESG risks are an established, if unstandardised, area of scrutiny for fund managers, led by growing demand from investors. The lack of standardisation extends to financial infrastructures, where ESG risks are often dismissed as irrelevant to the post-trade sector. Risk managers cannot discount ESG factors in this space, however, and Thomas Murray will be rolling out its ESG methodology to include CCPs, Transfer Agents, Sub-Custodians and Global Custodians in the near future.
Governance and Transparency, which Thomas Murray has assessed since 2013, remain the critical factors when assessing ESG risk in financial infrastructures. Environmental or Social factors are deemed less critical as a material risk to the safety of invested assets, but they are areas of great importance for many clients and it is essential that such policies are in place.
