Global
Sustainability
We believe that delivering the best investment outcomes for our clients over the long term depends on securing a prosperous and sustainable future.
What is sustainable investing … and why do we do it?
Our primary responsibility is to help our clients to achieve their long-term investment goals. We believe this is only possible if we secure a prosperous and sustainable future into which to invest. This is why our purpose as a firm is to invest and to advocate for a better tomorrow – to achieve better returns for our clients as well as a better future for our planet. For us, sustainable investing means delivering what we call sustainability with substance.
In other words, our approach to sustainability and addressing environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities must be evidence-based and purposeful.
Integrating ESG
As long-term investors, we need to consider all relevant risks. We integrate ESG into investment analysis across all our investment teams. This includes ensuring every investment team has the tools to analyse sustainability and ESG issues – resources that we believe are at least on a par with those available to the best sustainable strategies in the market.
Our investment teams also use their influence as active stewards of our clients’ capital to engage with companies and other entities on sustainability issues including direct and systemic risks.
Sustainable investment strategies
We offer a range of dedicated sustainable investment strategies that allocate to companies and other entities that have a positive influence on the world and aim to capture structural-growth trends linked to sustainability. Our sustainable strategies include those that incorporate impact investing approaches.
Our sustainable investing opportunities comprises both equity and fixed income strategies, some of which pursue sustainable thematic investing – for example, focusing on climate-solutions / transition investing, or on sustainability in emerging markets.
Our approach to sustainability
Across a framework we call Invest, Advocate and Inhabit, we seek to align behind the purpose and culture of our business: to do the right thing. By doing the right thing, we believe we can deliver the best outcomes for our clients as well as our people and the planet.
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Invest We integrate the assessment of ESG risks into our portfolios by deepening our understanding of externalities and improving our analysis and assessment of the risk they present. |
Advocate We seek to raise awareness of the need to fund the transition to a sustainable net-zero future in a fair and inclusive way, particularly in emerging markets. |
Inhabit We work to improve the sustainability of our operations and to support charities and community projects that are important to the team at Ninety One. |
Latest report
Sustainability and Stewardship Report
Our purpose is to invest for a better tomorrow. Our Sustainability & Stewardship Report details Ninety One’s work – on behalf of our clients and all of our stakeholders – towards a more sustainable future, with a deep dive into how we invest, advocacy and our corporate footprint.
Sustainable Equity
Why there’s a HALO over decarbonisation companies
The decarbonisation investment universe is well-stocked with ‘heavy-asset, low-obsolescence’ companies that are well-placed to benefit from an investment supercycle.
6 minutes
15 May 2026
Hidden GEMS
Hidden GEMs: Why the oil shock could accelerate the energy transition
Oil shocks don’t just disrupt, they accelerate change. Higher prices and energy insecurity are fast-tracking the shift to electrification and clean technology, led by emerging markets.
5 minutes
21 Apr 2026
Global Environment
Investing in an evolving energy transition
Emerging markets have become the new growth engine of the transition, with Chinese exports of clean technologies allowing countries to electrify and industrialise more cleanly and cheaply than ever before. Meanwhile in developed markets, AI and electrification are driving up power demand at a rate not seen in decades – fuelling demand for renewable energy and efficiency solutions across industries.
5 minutes
12 Jan 2026
AI
Power up for AI
AI is dramatically changing trends in electricity demand, creating exciting opportunities for equity investors.
5 minutes
12 Sep 2025
Sustainability
The energy transition is on – just not how we expected
The energy transition has not reversed, it is just taking a different path to the one we expected. Developed markets are going more slowly, but emerging markets are surprising dramatically to the upside.
3 minutes
09 Jul 2025
Transition investing
Net-zero investing: searching for returns and real-world change
Shifting from reducing financed emissions to financing reduced emissions. Using practical examples, this paper sets out how we can evolve the approach to net-zero investing to achieve the dual objectives of delivering decarbonisation in the real economy while optimising returns for clients and beneficiaries.
10 minutes
04 Jul 2025
Talking tariffs
Trump unleashes trade policy, shakes markets, adapts the rules, sets a course
Trump’s sweeping trade reset marks the largest US tariff escalation in nearly a century. Ninety One’s Investment Institute unpacks the policy shift, outlines scenario-based outcomes, and explores what it means for markets.
10 minutes
14 Apr 2025
Notes from the road
How adversity is inspiring innovation in Brazil
High interest rates and uncertainty have created a challenging backdrop for Brazilian companies. But some businesses are using adversity to catalyse innovation.
4 minutes
13 Mar 2025
Net Zero
How to build a real net-zero portfolio
By focusing allocations on financing real-world emissions reduction and using engagement to encourage net-zero alignment, investors can help to shift the economy toward a credible decarbonisation pathway, while optimising returns for clients and beneficiaries.
4 minutes
11 Mar 2025
Deliberating EM debt
Tackling tariff risks
With US trade tariff-related uncertainty now top-of-mind for investors, Thys Louw and Aurelie Martin present our proprietary framework for assessing sovereign vulnerability, and explain how tariff-related market volatility could present investment opportunities.
5 minutes
05 Feb 2025
Global Environment
Opportunities at a low point in the sentiment cycle
Higher interest rates and policy uncertainty have resulted in negative sentiment towards clean-tech sectors. This is creating a compelling opportunity for a countercyclical, diversified source of returns.
4 minutes
07 Jan 2025
Notes from the road
Unblocking Indonesia’s logistics logjam
The high cost of shipping materials and goods around Indonesia – a country comprising more than 17,000 islands – is putting a brake on the development of the e-commerce sector. The largest Indonesian e-commerce player is innovating to break the logistics logjam, and in doing so extend its market leadership.
5 minutes
25 Nov 2024
Sustainable investing
Sovereign sustainability snapshot: Colombia
Colombia is a pioneer in the sustainable bond market, and its progress on nature and biodiversity is encouraging. But broader sustainability performance is mixed, explains Nicolas Jaquier.
4 minutes
25 Nov 2024
US election 2024
Investing in decarbonisation under Trump 2.0
How will Trump 2.0 affect clean-tech sectors, including renewable energy and electric vehicles? Deirdre Cooper considers what lies ahead for investors in global decarbonisation.
2 minutes
07 Nov 2024
Sustainability with Substance
Making nature count: an investor’s perspective
The way that companies impact nature is becoming increasingly recognised as an investment risk and opportunity. Portfolio Manager Stephanie Niven discusses a new way of managing nature risks from the earliest stages of construction and infrastructure projects.
13 minutes
26 Sep 2024
Sustainable Equity
Powering the AI revolution: a superscale clean-tech opportunity?
Artificial intelligence is accelerating demand for clean and efficient energy. As a result, the growth opportunity across the clean-tech value chain is multiplying.
12 minutes
16 Sep 2024
Sustainability with Substance
Climate adaptation for the next generation
Financial innovation to manage extreme-weather risk.
10 minutes
15 Aug 2024
Sustainability with Substance
Tackling health, climate, and inequality
What do mouthwash, clean stoves, and parametric insurance all have in common?
15 minutes
08 May 2024
Hidden GEMS
Hidden GEMs: Capturing structural growth opportunities in LATAM
MercadoLibre’s success in capturing the digital inclusion structural growth opportunity in Latin America makes it a hidden gem according to Emerging Markets Sustainable Equities Portfolio Manager Juliana Hansveden and Analyst Eduardo Gomes.
3 minutes
26 Mar 2024
Notes from the road
Notes from the road: What the US election means for investors in decarbonisation
The US Presidential election is likely to be contested by candidates with starkly different stances on climate. What does the November poll mean for investors in the global decarbonisation opportunity?
8 minutes
19 Mar 2024
Notes from the road
Notes from the road: What hyper-competition means for China clean-tech
Analyst Yunli Liu returns to his home country to see for himself what business conditions are like and try to separate sentiment from fundamentals.
5 minutes
08 Mar 2024
Sustainability with Substance
Addressing digital inclusion challenges
In this episode, Sustainable Equity analyst Eric Opara sits down with Nikki Gwilliam-Beeharee from the World Benchmarking Alliance to examine some of the challenges and opportunities of digital inclusion.
22 minutes
04 Mar 2024
Emerging Markets Transition Debt
The power of debt to catalyse change
Portfolio Manager, Matt Christ, shares an example of how financing projects in emerging markets can contribute to meaningful, real-world impact.
2 minutes
19 Feb 2024
Sustainability with Substance
Medicine for change
In this episode we examine important healthcare topics including how improving accessibility on a global scale can generate material structural growth opportunities within the sector.
10 minutes
01 Feb 2024
Emerging markets
Net Zero Sovereign Index: annual insights, 2023
For the first time since the launch of our Net Zero Sovereign Index, the top 10 countries are all emerging markets.
3 minutes
31 Jan 2024
Sustainability with Substance
Making a transition difference bottom-up
Nazmeera Moola and Thabo Khojane sit down to discuss a pioneering solution in South Africa to green the power provided to our offices in Cape Town, meaningfully bolstering our efforts to be more sustainable.
8 minutes
14 Dec 2023
Sustainability with Substance
Making an impact
Alpha Sources in impact investment
20 minutes
11 Dec 2023
Sustainability
Finance’s evolving role in achieving net zero
The Paris Agreement of 2015 inspired widespread action to reduce forecasts of future warming. Arguably, this is not enough. Ninety One’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Nazmeera Moola, discusses the investment industry’s roles and responsibilities when it comes to driving the transition to net zero.
4 minutes
27 Nov 2023
Global environment
Volatility is creating opportunities
Environmental equities have been hit by a downturn in market sentiment. This is creating new opportunities to get exposure to parts of the economy expected to grow fast as the energy transition progresses. Deirdre Cooper and Graeme Baker assess the outlook for investors in decarbonisation.
3 minutes
27 Nov 2023
Global sustainable equities
Embrace the contrarian opportunity
Sustainable investing has had a difficult year. Stephanie Niven explains why investors have an opportunity to benefit from an allocation to companies with sustainable drivers of structural growth.
4 minutes
27 Nov 2023
Emerging markets sustainable equities
Opportunities for sustainable emerging markets equity investors
Market volatility is presenting opportunities to gain exposure to powerful structural trends in emerging economies. The near-term economic outlook may be uncertain, but companies enabling financial and digital inclusion should have a long growth runway ahead.
3 minutes
27 Nov 2023
Emerging markets transition debt
A structural investment theme poised for lift-off
Despite the higher cost of capital, healthy levels of transition-related activity are continuing in emerging markets. This translates into a growing opportunity set for investors.
4 minutes
27 Nov 2023
Sustainability with Substance
Investing for tomorrow: Africa’s natural environment and what’s at stake
Stephanie Niven and Jake Thomson examine some of the front-line challenges and impact potential of African conservation with Tusk founder Charlie Mayhew.
23 minutes
21 Nov 2023
Planetary Pulse 2023
Planetary Pulse: Targeting effectiveness
Asset owners weigh risks and opportunities of investing for an inclusive energy transition.
17 Nov 2023
Notes from the road
Notes from the road: driving financial inclusion in Brazil
Lack of access to the financial system limits the life chances of many people in the emerging world, and economic development more broadly. For a select group of companies, enabling financial inclusion is both a structural-growth tailwind and an impact opportunity.
3 minutes
09 Nov 2023
Deliberating EM debt
EM sovereign emissions measurement: a different perspective
Common approaches among asset allocators risk preventing progress towards net zero and missing out on a structural investment theme
5 minutes
02 Nov 2023
Deliberating EM debt
EM sovereign debt: taking stock of the sustainable bond market
Nicolas Jaquier and Peter Eerdmans chart the evolution of the EM sovereign debt market – where EM issuers are increasingly pushing boundaries – and provide insights and pointers for investors.
5 minutes
01 Nov 2023
Sustainable investing
The building blocks of the energy transition and the important role of institutional capital
Many allocators we speak to understand the 'why' but ask 'how' assets can be mobilised to support the energy transition in emerging markets, while also contributing to return targets.
3 minutes
20 Oct 2023
Transition investing
It’s time for implementation at COP. Or, at least, that’s what we’re hoping for
Our Chief Sustainability Officer, Nazmeera Moola, anticipates COP28.
3 minutes
05 Oct 2023
Sustainable investing
Deciphering the human factor
How to turn culture and inclusion insights into alpha signals
23 minutes
26 Sep 2023
Sustainable investing
Schneider Electric: talking carbon, culture … and sustainability as a strategy
For Schneider Electric, a multinational company that specialises in digital automation and energy management, sustainability isn’t just about doing good. It’s a way of aligning the business to the structural tailwinds created by a decarbonising world.
24 minutes
22 Aug 2023
Sustainable investing
Turning one: celebrating the Inflation Reduction Act’s first birthday
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) turns one this August. As with any infant, we do not know precisely what it will accomplish. But we can already say that it has potential to spur massive investment in decarbonisation.
5 minutes
26 Jul 2023
Transition investing
His Majesty King Charles III and President Biden reinforce the EM transition
On 10 July, Ninety One CEO Hendrik Du Toit was among a small group of executives who met His Majesty King Charles III and President Biden at Windsor Castle following the Climate Finance Mobilisation Forum.
2 minutes
20 Jul 2023
Sustainable investing
Mapping the sustainable growth journey in China and Korea
Juliana Hansveden and Yuxin Lin from the Sustainable Equity team recently travelled to China and Korea to meet existing and prospective portfolio companies. They discuss the insights gained from the trip and detail how they’re capturing the structural growth opportunities.
11 minutes
11 Jul 2023
Net Zero
Using emissions data: seven key takeaways
How do professional investors and asset management firms use emissions data? And how does sustainability reporting need to evolve to meet the needs of today’s investors? Members of the Ninety One team shared their insights and experiences at a ‘CDP Signatory Day’ in May.
2 minutes
19 Jun 2023
Sustainable investing
Why sustainability unlocks the EM opportunity
A sustainable approach is the best way for equity investors to capture the powerful structural growth trends in emerging markets, says Juliana Hansveden.
3 minutes
12 Jun 2023
Net Zero
Transition talks: real world transition stories
In this interview, we speak to Bridget Beals, Head of Climate Risk & Strategy at KPMG who talks to us about the engagements she’s having with companies across public and private markets and the transition plans she’s seeing from these companies.
25 minutes
16 May 2023
Sustainable investing
Nature’s balance sheet: biodiversity opportunities and risks
In the first episode of Sustainability with Substance, Portfolio Manager Stephanie Niven and analyst Sam Anthony discuss the importance of biodiversity and how they think about it from an investment perspective.
19 minutes
28 Apr 2023
Sustainable investing
Public and private collaboration critical for achieving the SDGs
Following the recently concluded spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank, Annika Brouwer reflects on progress made in public finance reform, the need for and challenges of mobilizing private capital, and the imperative for policies and projects to incorporate a return objective.
14 minutes
27 Apr 2023
Net Zero
Why corporates must act
Written by independent researchers from Imperial College London and Reading University through Imperial Consultants, this paper looks at the physical risks of climate change and its potential impact on corporates and financial markets.
15 minutes
20 Mar 2023
Sustainable investing
A disorderly transition
Evidence suggests the transition to a low-carbon economy will be disorderly. By allocating to ‘transition assets’, investors can mitigate some of the disorder, while potentially generating positive outcomes for their portfolios. This paper makes the case for transition investing, and explains how to identify a true ‘transition asset’.
25 minutes
07 Mar 2023
Emerging perspectives
Notes from the road: developing ESG trends in Gulf states
Michail reports on various shifts taking place in Gulf Cooperation Council countries and their relevance for emerging market debt investors, following his recent trip to Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
8 minutes
16 Dec 2022
Global environment
Tailwinds strengthen for climate-solutions providers
A turbulent year has increased the opportunities for companies that are helping the world transition away from fossil fuels and use energy more efficiently.
3 minutes
23 Nov 2022
Sustainability
Investors need to read the ‘ESG’ label carefully
Assets are flowing into ESG funds, but investors need to choose carefully because the ‘sustainable’ label still covers a very wide range of investment approaches.
3 minutes
23 Nov 2022
Emerging perspectives
EM sovereign debt: on track for net zero?
A year on from the launch of our Net Zero Sovereign Index, our EM Debt team explains how it now measures alignment with Paris climate goals and what that means for investors.
8 minutes
14 Nov 2022
Sustainable investing
A game-changing response to the challenge of climate change
The oddly named Inflation Reduction Act introduces a raft of far-reaching measures that will support the energy industry in the US for at least a decade to come. This has positive implications for investors.
3 minutes
15 Aug 2022
Sustainable Equity
Natural capital
Natural capital comprises the world’s stock of natural assets: soil, air, water and all living things. For each company, we analyse three key aspects of natural capital: carbon, biodiversity and water.
9 minutes
03 Aug 2022
Sustainable Equity
Social capital
Social capital comprises the networks of people that enable a society to function. We analyse how a company impacts different groups of stakeholders, and the consequent potential effects on its growth and profits.
9 minutes
03 Aug 2022
Sustainable Equity
Human capital
Our human capital analysis focuses on the externalities generated by businesses that impact employees, drawing heavily on our methodology for evaluating corporate cultures.
9 minutes
03 Aug 2022
Sustainable investing
Sustainable investing needs to evolve. Fast
The leading businesses of tomorrow will be those that create value for all of their stakeholders. To identify them, sustainable investment approaches need to be re-engineered. Three of Ninety One’s portfolio managers explain how.
5 minutes
18 May 2022
China
Notes from the road: Post-COVID China, a decarbonisation investor’s perspective
Life in China continues to be hampered by COVID, but a research trip highlights that some green-economy sectors are looking ahead to healthy sales in the new year.
5 minutes
05 Nov 2021
Emerging markets
Net zero: No one left behind
If the world is to achieve net zero, investors’ current approaches to allocating capital must change. We examine the flaws in asset managers’ and owners’ interpretation, which has led them to set portfolio-level carbon targets that will stymie global net zero ambitions and introduce our new index.
40 minutes
27 Oct 2021
Investing for a World of Change
The eye of the storm: how a power company leads the energy transition
According to Ninety One’s Deirdre Cooper, “we are in the eye of the storm. This is a unique moment in time when capital allocators have an enormous role to play in funding the transition”. She discussed with José Sáinz, CFO of renewables-focused utility Iberdrola, how to finance the energy transition while keeping the lights on.
12 minutes
21 Oct 2021
Investing for a World of Change
Aligning to net zero from an asset allocator's perspective
The net-zero transition imposes several challenges on asset allocators – not least dealing with inconsistent carbon reporting by asset managers, as well as the difficulty of communicating decarbonisation progress (or otherwise) in a way that is useful for end-investors.
30 minutes
21 Oct 2021
Access Ninety One
Where does culture meet climate risk?
Corporate culture matters for sustainability and for long-term growth and innovation. Our panel explores the elements that define a successful culture, creating engaged employees and a resilient business.
41 minutes
21 Oct 2021
Insights
Investing in companies shaping the future
Companies that are helping the world tackle the climate challenges are at the forefront of innovation and have the potential to ride a wave of structural growth.
6 minutes
06 Sep 2021
Sustainable investing
How to invest in transport’s electric revolution
With electric vehicle (EV) sales up over 40% last year, the speed of the green-transport revolution has kicked up several gears. Investors have a chance to tap into one of the big growth trends of our times. But as Graeme Baker explains, to capture the EV opportunity it may be wise to take the road less travelled.
4 minutes
29 Jul 2021
COP
In shaping ways to avert climate catastrophe, South Africa must demand fairness or be left behind
Hendrik du Toit & Nazmeera Moola argue that SA has a small window of opportunity ahead of COP26 to lead the way for emerging markets in calling for an orderly transition to reducing emissions globally, or risk being starved of capital flows.
5 minutes
07 Jul 2021
Sustainable investing
Investing in the net-zero transition: lessons from South Africa
As governments and corporations accelerate their net-zero plans, we look to South Africa as a fascinating case study of the risks and opportunities as the world attempts to transition to carbon neutrality.
14 minutes
01 Jul 2021
Sustainable investing
A fair and inclusive pathway to net zero
Ninety One’s sustainability agenda, including its net-zero commitment, is driven by a commitment to achieving real-world change.
3 minutes
30 Jun 2021
Sustainable investing
Culture as a driver of sustainable alpha
Using insight into workplace practices to identify investments with long-term potential.
9 minutes
29 Jun 2021
Investment Institute research
Europe and the race to net zero
In this deep-dive analysis, we map Europe’s pathway to a clean-energy future, and draw lessons for investors on how to navigate this unprecedented economic transformation.
45 minutes
26 Mar 2021
US Elections
‘Blue wave’ returns to the agenda with Senate flip
Two months after the US election, the Democrats have flipped the Senate, with unexpected victories in two runoffs in Georgia. This gives President-elect Biden a much greater chance of implementing his policies, which are likely to include further stimulus with a strong decarbonisation agenda.
4 minutes
08 Jan 2021
Sustainable investing
Allocating to decarbonisation
The urgent need to address climate change is creating risks and opportunities for investors. Our panel discussed how to allocate to ‘decarbonisation’, the challenge of dealing with incomplete and unreliable data, and the need to improve impact measurement.
23 minutes
16 Nov 2020
Sustainable investing
Are we doing enough to secure a sustainable future?
Seven key takeaways from the discussion between Former Bank of England and Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney and Hendrik du Toit, CEO of Ninety One.
44 minutes
16 Nov 2020
Sustainable investing
Q&A: Investing in the low-carbon transition
The transition to a low-carbon global economy is driving growth and investment opportunities, but measuring carbon impact is key. Read the latest Q&A with the strategy’s portfolio managers.
5 minutes
01 Oct 2020
Insights
Why the oil slump won’t pull the plug on electric-vehicle sales
Oil’s decline is largely irrelevant to the transition to clean energy.
5 Minutes
24 Mar 2020
Ninety One and WWF-UK
Sustainability & satellites
New frontiers in sovereign debt investing: could advances in geo-spatial research transform sovereign debt investors’ ability to address environmental risks?
30 Minutes
Updated: 14 Jun 2019
Insights
Let there be light
In, ‘Burning the midnight oil: What can history teach us about energy transition
35 Minutes
04 Mar 2019
Insights
Electric dreams
In our paper – History: Burning the Midnight Oil
35 Minutes
04 Mar 2019
Insights
Climate changing for asset owners - fast view
Carbon emissions rose in 2017, after three years of stability
38 Minutes
04 Mar 2019
Insights
Deconstructing decarbonisation
How humanity's greatest challenge impacts the investment landscape
25 Minutes
04 Mar 2019
Insights
Burning the midnight oil
The history of energy consumption is a history of the modern world
24 Minutes
04 Mar 2019
Important Information
This communication is provided for general information only and should not be construed as advice.
All the information in this communication is believed to be reliable but may be inaccurate or incomplete. The views are those of the contributor at the time of publication and do not necessarily reflect those of Ninety One.
Any opinions stated are honestly held but are not guaranteed and should not be relied upon.
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