As winner of Asia Asset Management’s 2025 Best of the Best Awards for Best Impact Investing Manager, Mirova has emerged as one of the leading impact-oriented investors globally.
For Ignace Nguyen, head of business development in Asia Pacific, what sets the firm apart is the development of significant expertise in sustainable and thematic investing across both listed and private assets.
“It is this breadth of the firm’s investment offerings that provides investors, globally and in Asia, with an unparallel choice of impact investing exposure depending on their risk-return profile and liquidity preference.”
From listed multi-thematic equities, GSS (green, social and sustainability) bonds to unlisted energy transition infrastructure, impact private equity and natural capital – Mirova’s capabilities are managed by well-resourced and seasoned investment and sustainability research teams across the US, Europe and Asia. As a fast-growing impact-oriented manager, the firm is rapidly expanding its global footprint and had around US$33 billion of assets under management as at December 2024.
Speaking to AAM about challenging market and policy conditions, the investment case for sustainability and how he sees the current landscape for climate action and related impact investment opportunities, both globally and in Asia, Nguyen observes a “global setback on climate action and environmental regulations driven by the shifting policy landscape under the new US Trump administration.”
And while it might slow the US path to net zero, he says the global energy transition should remain on track with Europe and Asia taking a more central role in global climate efforts. Taking the energy transition as an example, he sees several key drivers to support continued investment in climate related solutions globally, including rising power demand driven in large part by generative AI/data centres, reshoring of manufacturing, and electrification of industry.
He adds that despite the US policy shift, renewables are already the lowest cost generation capacity resources in many parts of the US when comparing to new-build gas power generation. In the case of Europe, he notes that an escalation of the war in Ukraine reinforces the strategic importance of energy security for the region, in which renewables need to play a larger role.
Asia’s decarbonisation journey, he says, will also likely continue with China expected to gain a global market share in clean technologies and the broader region advancing in climate transition finance given that it is one of the world’s most vulnerable regions to the effect of climate change.
“Amid this transition period, we expect investor demand for impact investing solutions to remain steady, simply because they make growing economic sense to capture growth opportunities while making a measurable environmental and social impact.”
Shifting landscape
When it comes to delivering both financial performance and positive impact Nguyen says Mirova’s sustainability research will remain an essential input supporting the company’s investment decisions, despite the current shifting political climate.
“We strongly believe that companies that are ignoring sustainability issues are at risk of underperforming over time, and therefore that financial performance and impact are inextricably linked over the long term. In our opinion, an investment seeking to combine financial performance with positive sustainability impact is critical to sustainable value creation.”
Nguyen says that on the one hand, incorporating financially material sustainability factors into Mirova’s fundamental analyses enables the company to enhance investment decisions. On the other, considering the environmental and social externalities of its assets helps to create a positive impact on the economy and society.
He notes that this notion of “double materiality” focusing on driving capital towards companies and projects well positioned to contribute to the achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is key to achieving this dual objective. Despite market fluctuations and policy changes, he adds, companies are actively transitioning to adapt their business models for economic competitiveness and risk management, with long-term investment opportunities stemming from themes related to climate, environment, and social issues.
“In this context, we see more investors starting to focus not only on impact investing in solutions for sustainable development but also investing more in companies and projects that support the transition. By understanding how our global economy and society are transitioning towards a more sustainable future, and the capital flow involved, we believe impact investing enables investors to capture growth opportunities while delivering positive impact over time,” he concludes.
