Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) has launched a Global Equity Tilt Fund, domiciled in the UK, and part of its wider Equity Tilt fund range with circa £42.5bn AUM. The fund is designed to help clients access broad global equity market exposure at a comparatively low cost, while managing the portfolio’s carbon footprint.

Using the MSCI World Index as the benchmark, the new fund applies a series of small, diversified ‘tilts’ in favour of companies demonstrating stronger ESG characteristics. According to RLAM, the fund combines elements of passive and active management approaches, allowing it to improve ESG outcomes while keeping the expected tracking error low.

The UK-based manager said the fund has been launched in response to growing client demand for credible climate and ESG integration within core equity allocations, without the high costs, liquidity constraints or high tracking error risk often associated with traditional active or passive ESG strategies.

In addition to targeting benchmark returns, the fund seeks to achieve a carbon footprint at least 10% below the benchmark, alongside long-term goals of achieving a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

RLAM, which has managing £181 billion AUM (US$244 billion), intends to make Equity Tilt strategies available to investors as ETFs later in 2026.

“Investors shouldn’t have to choose between responsible investment and broad market exposure. Our Global Equity Tilt Fund is designed to deliver the diversification, liquidity and cost efficiency investors expect from a core equity holding, while systematically improving climate and ESG outcomes through many small, disciplined investment decisions,” said Matt Burgess, RLAM’s Head of Passive and Quantitative Equities.

“Clients are increasingly looking for interesting evolutions from core passive allocations, often in ways that align with their climate goals without introducing unnecessary complexity, cost or risk. Our Tilt strategies are proving popular by combining active stewardship and a robust, repeatable systematic investment process at the cost, return and risk profile of a passive product,” added Ed Venner, Chief Client Officer.

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) has launched a UK-domiciled global credit fund that will invest in the low-carbon transition, with Willis Towers Watson’s LifeSight defined contribution master trust providing seed capital.

The AXA Carbon Transition Global Core Credit Fund is the fifth AXA IM fund to adopt the ‘Sustainability Improvers’ label under the Financial Conduct Authority’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements regime.

The fund aims to deliver income and capital returns over the long term, offering a robust core building block for pension investors seeking broad, diversified credit exposure with a more selective and forward-looking approach, said AXA IM, part of BNP Paribas Group since the close of its acquisition in July 2025.

It also aims to contribute to the global transition to net zero by investing in issuers which demonstrate a clear and credible commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 or are decreasing their carbon emissions intensity to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

LifeSight’s seed capital investment starts at £400 million (US$535 million), and is expected to rise to as much as £1 billion by 2027.

Andrew Doyle, Lead Investment Adviser to LifeSight, said the fund new vehicle would serve its default fund members during later stage accumulation and decumulation. “It will help manage risk during these important stages by providing valuable geographic diversification and through incorporating climate risk. We believe this will continue to improve on the strong outcomes we have achieved to date for our members.”

AXA IM manages approximately €853 billion (US$1.002 trillion) in assets , of which €493 billion are categorised as ESG-integrated, sustainable, or impact investments.

Australian superannuation fund NGS Super has agreed to be an anchor investor in specialist asset manager Gresham House’s Sustainable International Forestry Strategy Platform, as part of a €250 million first close.

The platform targets a diversified portfolio of productive, sustainably managed timberland and afforestation assets across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland and continental Europe.

Classified as Article 9 under Europe’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, the fund is designed to capture long-term opportunities linked to inflation dynamics, while embedding ESG principles across the investment cycle, according to Gresham House.

“Sustainable forestry aligns with our objectives to achieve stable, risk-adjusted returns while contributing to global climate and biodiversity goals,” says Ben Squires, Chief Investment Officer, NGS Super, which manages assets worth US$15.12 billion.

Worcestershire Pension Fund was also announced as one of the other anchor investors.

Recent research from investment consultants bfinance found that real assets were a driver of institutional investor interest in private markets allocations. According to the firm’s latest Manager Intelligence and Market Trends report, private markets represented 52% of all new manager searches in the 12 months to September 2025.

At the asset class level, private real assets led activity, representing 24% of all mandates, “supported by investor demand for exposure to infrastructure, real estate, and natural capital strategies aligned with energy transition and digital infrastructure themes”.

As well addressing systemic climate and nature risks when managed sustainably, forestry has historically exhibited distinct characteristics compared with mainstream asset classes, notably inflation alignment, which have contributed to its role within diversified portfolios across multiple economic cycles.

The Sustainable International Forestry Strategy Platform also reflects the Gresham House Forestry Charter, which embeds ESG principles across the investment cycle, and ensures that each asset is managed for long-term ecological and community impact and benefit.

Gresham House’s forestry division manages over €4.1 billion in forestry assets globally and is the seventh largest forestry investment manager worldwide.

Demand for impact investing will grow rapidly over the next three years, according to an annual survey which shows limited reduction in the US market for sustainable investments despite an adverse political environment.

The 30^th US SIF Foundation sustainable investing trends report found that 46% of respondents expect their organisations to increase impact investing activities, with sustainability-themed investing (43%) and ESG integration (38%) also expected to rise.

Around 60% of respondents current deploy impact investing strategies, said the report, adding that the expected increase reflected a “focus on outcomes and positive impact alongside investment returns”. The 2025 survey was based on responses from 270 institutions, of which the majority (59%) were asset managers.

The report also estimated that around 11% of the US market was invested in sustainable or ESG investment strategies in 2025 – representing US$6.6 trillion – based on an analysis of filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Although this was a slightly higher amount than the US$6.5 trillion reported in 2024, it represents a slight contraction in sustainably managed assets due to an increase overall market size in the past 12 months (to US$61.7 trillion).

Approximately US$42.7 trillion (69%) of US assets under management were covered by a stewardship policy, according to publicly available investor information and disclosures.

US SIF, the US Sustainable Investment Forum, said political pushback had moderated, not reversed ESG activity, with nearly half of respondents (46%) reporting no impact to their own organisation’s approached sustainable investment.

However, 29% said they now focus explicitly on demonstrable financial materiality; one in four have stopped using the ESG acronym. The survey also found an increase in the number of firms emphasising their commitment to fiduciary duty.

US asset managers offering sustainable investment strategies have faced increasing legal and political pressure in recent years, including court cases brought against managers in Republican-run states and federal investigations into collaborative initiatives.

“The shifts we’re seeing reflect a pragmatic adaptation to the current environment while maintaining focus on the long-term drivers of value and changing market risks and opportunities,” said Maria Lettini, CEO of US SIF.