CFA Institute Net-Zero Guide for Investors

New York, 18 February 2025—The CFA Institute Research and Policy Center has released a new guide for investors that aims to help advance the theory and practice of net-zero investing.

Serialized and also published in one complete volume entitled Investment Innovations Toward Achieving Net Zero: Voices of Influence, the guide offers 16 research papers from more than 50 leading academics and investment industry professionals who share their practical solutions and strategies for net-zero investing.

Chris Fidler, Head, Global Industry Standards, CFA Institute, comments:

“Net-Zero investing is really still in its infancy. Against this backdrop, we’ve brought together experts from across the globe to break down the big ideas around net-zero investing and create an extended knowledge bank for investors seeking to incorporate net-zero strategies into their portfolios. The guide provides a comprehensive overview of the latest practices and trends, helping illuminate pathways to understanding the intricate dynamics of net-zero investing, while aligning financial objectives with client goals.”

“As we see throughout the guide, climate-related disclosures play a central role. At CFA Institute, we advocate for relevant, reliable, comparable, timely, and understandable climate-related disclosures that are useful for investors. Standardizing climate disclosures and improving quality is crucial, along with assurance by independent professionals. We hope the newly published guide will serve as a valuable resource for those seeking to navigate the evolving landscape of net-zero investing.”

Themes featured include:

• Cooperation: Systems-level thinking, international cooperation, renewable energy investments, and climate-hedged portfolios to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
• Duty and Climate Goals: Setting realistic climate goals, influencing government policy, and ensuring fiduciary duties align with climate objectives.
• Decarbonization and Carbon Pricing Trends: Global carbon pricing trends, the decreasing costs of decarbonization technologies, and the role of policy harmonization in reducing emissions and achieving net-zero targets.
• Measuring Carbon Emissions: Carbon intensity as a financial risk factor, better carbon emission metrics and climate risk ratings.
• Net-Zero-Aligned Portfolios: Dynamic portfolio rebalancing, multi-objective optimization tools, and machine learning large language models to address data gaps, greenwashing, and uncertainties in net-zero investing.

The guide includes two case studies.

The first case study explores a methodology for constructing net-zero aligned portfolios drawing on the example of Danish pension fund PenSam. The second examines green and transition finance at the municipal level through the lens of Huzhou City in China.  

To access the full guide, visit Investment Innovations Toward Achieving Net Zero: Voices of Influence. See all contributing authors here.

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For further information or interview requests, contact [email protected].

Notes to Editors

Net-zero investing guide contributors scheduled to participate in panel discussions at CFA Institute Live 2025, the flagship global investors conference are:

Robert Furdak, CFA, Chief Investment Officer, Responsible Investment at Man Group (The Scope of Net Zero: The Use of Carbon Emission Data to Achieve Portfolio Goals):

• Conference Panel: Optimizing Sustainability Data: Strategies for Quality and Access - with Brian Matt, CFA, Head of ESG Advisory, New York Stock Exchange and Hiromichi (Hiro) Mizuno, Special Advisor to CEO, MSCI: 5 May: 11:10 ET.

Jon Lukomnik, Managing Partner, Sinclair Capital LLC (Tools Used by System-Level Investors in Their Net-Zero Initiatives), Andrew Ang, Managing Director, BlackRock (Attribution of Portfolios with Climate-Related Signals), and Lukasz Pomorski, Senior Vice President, Equity Portfolio Manager, Acadian Asset Management (Net-Zero Investing: Harnessing the Power of Unstructured Data):

• Conference Panel: Risk Revolution: Conquering Climate and Sustainability Risks: 6 May: 13:00 ET