An investor collaboration has shared its investor expectations on a just transition for the banking sector.

The collaboration, which includes Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, Royal London Asset Management, and Friends Provident Foundation, laid out the expectations as part of its ongoing engagement with four banks: Lloyds, Barclays, NatWest, and HSBC. The goal of this engagement is for the bank to introduce either a standalone just transition plan or explicit incorporation of just transition into existing climate plans. To date, two banks have committed to take the requested action, whilst a third has included just transition ambitions in its net zero plan, and the fourth has stated support for just transition principles. Investors intend to use the expectations for more detailed engagement with the banks during 2024, addressing what they want to see in the emerging plans.

Aegon has launched a continuing professional development (CPD) hub to give financial advisers the knowledge to navigate ongoing regulatory challenges.

Aegon created the new CPD Hub in response to the findings of a recent report, NextWealth: Managing Lifetime Wealth, which revealed that regulatory influence is the main cause of adviser’s concerns over the next three to five years. Advisers can access various learning resources through the hub, with the industry expert presented resources also counting towards meeting annual CPD goals. The modules currently available at launch cover consumer duty, regulatory change, and client referrals.

BlackRock has launched a Global Smaller Companies Fund.

The global small-cap fund seeks to provide exposure to higher growth companies among globally developed small-cap equities. The fund, available to UK investors, offers a differentiated source of high alpha within the small companies’ universe to complement a broader global equity allocation. This area of the market has historically outperformed larger companies in the long term. Global small caps are currently trading at a ~26 per cent discount to large caps, currently around all-time highs. This contrasts with the sector’s usual premium of approximately 10 per cent. The fund is managed by Matt Betts and Dan Whitestone as part of BlackRock’s emerging companies team.

---