Press Release
Frankfurt/Hamburg, 18 October 2022 – Germany’s largest asset managers Allianz Global Investors (AGI), Deka Investments, Union Investment and DWS are unrestrictedly investing in the companies with the biggest coal, oil and gas expansion plans. Their behavior undermines their official pledges to meet the 1.5-degree climate target. This is shown in a joint report by Greenpeace, Reclaim Finance and Urgewald, which examines the gap between the commitments to climate action and the fossil fuel policies of the four industry giants. The front-runner in the climate harming investments analyzed for this report is Deutsche Bank subsidiary DWS with US$ 7.5 billion (as of September 2022). It is followed by Union Investment with US$ 2.0 billion, AGI with US$ 1.6 billion and Deka with US$ 1.4 billion invested in companies with fossil fuel expansion plans. The four asset managers’ investment choices are at odds with the scientific consensus that any new coal, oil and gas development is strictly incompatible with international climate objectives.
All four German asset managers have joined the Net Zero Asset Manager Initiative (NZAM), in which they made a binding commitment to support efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C. However, the current fossil fuel policies of the asset managers leave the door open for the worst polluters due to vague criteria. AGI, Deka Investments and Union Investment have weak investment restrictions for coal companies and DWS has no overarching coal policy (1). None of the four asset managers has investment restrictions for companies involved in oil and gas expansion.
In addition, AGI, Deka Investments, Union Investment and DWS all lack effective guidelines for engagement with companies to ensure the required emission reductions. Despite their claims of engaging with fossil fuel companies as active shareholders, none of the four have publicly asked any company in which they are invested to put an end to new fossil fuel supply projects. Those deficits are also reflected in the voting behavior of the four asset managers at the annual general meetings (AGMs) of the major European oil and gas companies in 2022, which was also analyzed in the report.
NGOs call for robust policies to restrict investments in fossil fuel expansion and to engage companies to abandon such plans
Greenpeace, Reclaim Finance and Urgewald call on Allianz Global Investors, Deka Investments, Union Investment and DWS to 1) put forth clear plans to cease all investments in companies involved in coal, oil and gas expansion; and 2) establish a clear and credible engagement strategy directed towards all other fossil fuel companies in their portfolios.
Mauricio Vargas, Greenpeace’s financial expert, says: “Given the greenwashing scandal at DWS, it weighs particularly heavily that the Deutsche Bank subsidiary also ranks last compared to its peers when it comes to climate action. This is another case of greenwashing that DWS should immediately correct.”
Julia Dubslaff, finance campaigner at Urgewald, said: “In the midst of the climate catastrophe, fossil fuel companies are still expanding instead of presenting an exit plan. Nowadays, this is simply irresponsible. German asset managers cannot keep hiding behind their engagement! Without rigorous exclusion criteria, this turns into an empty excuse.”
Lara Cuvelier, Sustainable Investments campaigner at Reclaim Finance, said: “German asset managers are definitely not taking sufficient action against coal, oil, or gas expansion. DWS and Allianz GI are good examples of the hypocrisy of too many asset managers: whilst being among the biggest European members of the NZAM, they still invest in massive coal expansionist Glencore.”