NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

By Natasha White, Greg Ritchie, and Steven Arons

The asset management units of Deutsche Bank AG and BNP Paribas SA are adding to a tidal wave of ESG fund downgrades, bringing industry assets under management to have been hit by such reclassifications to well over $100 billion.

BNP said it was stripping Europe’s top ESG designation from $16 billion worth of funds, while DWS Group’s reclassification will hit eight funds holding about $265 million, after announcing $2.1 billion in downgrades last week. The industry has blamed unclear rules for the chaos, as investors start to voice their anger.

Photo courtesy of Rodion Kutsaiev.