“People want an explanation of how ESG is being integrated and there is accountability of what is actually being done and there is a link between the investment objective and what is delivered to the client. The engagement between what is said and what is actually done."

Haefele put the progress of sustainable finance in that messy transition of balancing the need for reporting and transparency against the need to develop products fast enough for ESG to scale and make an impact. “Hook up the pipes, get more money in the sector, that’s when we can really start to make the fine-grained changes,” he said.