Asia outdoes US in ‘climate economy’

Philippines—Asia-Pacific nations reported better results than the United States when it came to providing goods, products and services that helped in easing the impact of climate change, according to a financial metric pioneered by British banking giant HSBC.

In a statement, HSBC said climate-friendly firms in Asian countries, excluding Japan, outperformed their US-based counterparts by 33 percent since the bank started tracking the data in 2004.

At the same time, these firms outperformed global equities by an average of 64 percent since the inception of the index, buoyed by large and direct government investments in clean energy and manufacturing capacity.

Building on the success of the HSBC Climate Change Benchmark Index—the first comprehensive Climate Change Index launched in 2007—HSBC has since initiated regional and country climate change indices.

These indices give fund managers the opportunity to invest in specific elements of global climate change on a selective and focused basis, the bank said.

These indices are based on the same quantitative framework as the benchmark index and will enable investors and asset allocators to track and monitor climate-related investments and the transition from a high to low carbon economy for listed companies on a global, regional and country basis for the first time.

In practice, this means that clients can now build a climate change portfolio with targeted exposure in one country or region—such as Asia-Pacific without Japan, which has already risen by 78 percent this year—to better fit their overall investment strategy and objectives.

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