BlackRock lost several high profile mandates during 2025 because of its supposed lack of commitment towards ESG. So we look at the numbers and see how much of a problem it is proving for the world’s largest asset manager.

Aberdeen City Council is taking Federated Hermes to court over an investment in Swedish wind farms which, it alleges, lost $117mn or 83 per cent of the total investment

Outgoing New York City comptroller Brad Lander has told the city’s pension systems to fire BlackRock over its climate track record. This has not gone down well with the world’s largest asset manager

According to Antonina Scheer of the Transition Pathway Initiative, one of the big wins of the COP30 summit was the lack of backsliding on climate finance after the US pulled out of the Paris Agreement

People’s Pension, which runs £38bn in assets, is aiming to align its investments with the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global warning below 1.5C but some US asset managers are pivoting away from ESG investments

Natural capital investments are finding favour among major asset owners, according to data from Gresham House and AOX’s own sister publication MandateWire. We hear from two asset owners on what’s driving their interest in the sector.

The Friends Provident Foundation is partnering with five other charities to encourage investment managers to compete over a $66mn portoflio which prioritises social and environmental impact

Retail investors have been pulling money out of ESG investments for several years as enthusiasm for the style turns negative. Is this reflected among asset owners?

Local government pension schemes and LGPS pools surveyed by MandateWire in the third quarter of 2024 focused on alternative portfolios, in part due to the UK government’s push to encourage the LGPS to provide UK private market funding.

As investor attention shifts from carbon emissions to biodiversity, asset owners are advised to consider the investment opportunities in natural capital. Companies that support resource efficiency, zero waste and the circular economy are hailed as attractive investments that both protect the earth’s natural resources and deliver strong returns.