Shinhan Asset Management Selected as an Excellent Asset Management Company Leading Green Finance

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Shinhan Asset Management announced on the 7th that it was selected as an ‘Outstanding Green Finance Leading Asset Management Company (Ministerial Award)’ at the ‘2021 Green Finance Excellent Companies’ hosted by the Ministry of Environment and the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute.

The ‘Green Finance Excellent Companies Awards Ceremony’ was established to promote the activation of green finance by rewarding institutions and companies that have made significant contributions in various sectors such as building the foundation for green finance. From September, a one-month public contest was held in three categories: green bond issuing companies, excellent banks, and excellent asset management companies. After screening, a total of five outstanding green finance companies were selected.

Shinhan Asset Management received the Outstanding Green Finance Leading Asset Management Company (Ministerial Award). Based on managing green finance products worth a total of KRW 3.0324 trillion, notable swift actions for the environment included the first declaration of the Climate Action Principles in Korea, the first comprehensive domestic asset management company to declare support for the TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure), and the first in Korea to join the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAMI).

Additionally, Shinhan Asset Management was the first in Korea to send shareholder letters and inquiries demanding climate information disclosure, participation in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), compliance with TCFD recommendations, and disclosure of information according to the green economic activity classification to 242 investee companies, receiving responses from 101 companies. This was highly evaluated for actively conducting environmental-related shareholder engagement activities (Stewardship Code), such as reflecting the estimated annual carbon costs and identifying high-risk groups of investee companies, and managing the carbon intensity of the investment portfolio.

Changgu Lee, CEO of Shinhan Asset Management, stated, “Climate change is a challenge we must solve for a sustainable future, and the asset management industry must play its role in responding to climate change and transitioning to a carbon-neutral society,” adding, “We will fulfill our responsibilities and roles as a leading ESG investment firm in Korea.”