'Not easy but doable': The implications of adopting an SDR label

Portfolio management most affected

When the Financial Conduct Authority unveiled the Sustainability Disclosure Requirements at the end of 2023, the industry cheered the regulator’s approach of dropping the “more contentious areas” of the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, while keeping most of the positives.

But as the watchdog clarified some of its expectations, it became clear that simultaneously adopting SDR labels, alongside the anti-greenwashing provisions – which came into force at the end of May 2024 – and the upcoming naming and marketing rules in December would not be an easy feat for asset managers. The four SDR labels are Sustainability Impact, Sustainability Focus, Sustainability Improvers and Sustainability Mixed Goals and can be applied as of today (31 July). The labelling becomes mandatory from 2 December and Rodolfo Fracassi, co-founder and managing director at MainStreet ...