SOUNDBITES - Gilbert Van Hassel (CEO)

On leadership in SI

“Others can catch up, but experience still counts – and we do have it in spades. There’s not really a substitute for experience. We have a track record of 20 years in the products that we offer and about an equal period of time since we acquired SAM, which is a sustainability knowledge center. I think it is the same with everything else we are doing. Sustainable investing is based on research, so we continue to invest very significantly both in applied research, that immediately translates into actions in our portfolios and returns for clients, but also in fundamental research, where we look at what could be the next step in sustainability (…). We fully believe that if you focus on sustainability, you’re going to be a better asset manager.”

On BlackRock going full-throttle on sustainability

On BlackRock going full-throttle on sustainability “BlackRock has a tendency to make very bold statements, and this is one of them. We can only be happy that the largest asset manager in the world is becoming serious about ESG and climate change in particular (…). At Robeco, we have put these topics at the center of everything that we do for 20 years now. It is our firm belief that if you understand ESG factors, over the long run you are going to make better risk-adjusted returns. The challenge for BlackRock is that a very large part – over 50% – of their earnings is generated through passive investments. To move passive investment to include ESG is quite a significant task. Unless they change all of the underlying indices, this is not going to be easy.” On sustainable investing definitions

On sustainable investing definitions

“We still think of sustainability in the classic definition of making sure that we meet the needs of the present generation without hampering the needs of future generations. The 17 SDG goals are a much better reflection of sustainability than climate [considerations] only or ESG.”

On capitalism saving the planet

“The answer needs to be nuanced here. Very clearly, regulatory push helps; defining a common taxonomy [in particular] would help us tremendously. Then you can start measuring it, and if you can measure it, you can manage it and start making progress. But I don’t think it’s the most important. You clearly see there’s a (…) groundswell of climate actions everywhere in the world, also social unrest (…). Younger people are forcing us to take it very seriously. Lastly I would stress that, from our perspective, we are totally convinced and it is totally in our DNA that this is not a luxury, but a need for us to understand in order to make better investment decisions. How can capital help? Asset managers manage a lot of assets. Asset owners have tremendous pools of money. Money speaks. If we start investing this money more towards the longer term and towards sustainable solutions, things can go very, very quickly.”