Large European asset managers have been less carbon-intensive than their US peers, according to research by fund ratings firm MSCI.
Overall, however, the anonymised findings raised questions about the sustainability of all large asset houses, despite their stated aims.
The report, Footprinting the World's Largest Asset Managers, looked at the world's 10 largest asset managers and highlights the need for those with net-zero commitments to assess their entire book of assets to have a baseline for target setting.
This is also necessary to monitor progress, alongside engagement and decarbonization efforts.
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Bigger was not found to be better for environmental issues among large fund houses by the researchers at MSCI.
Assets under management were proportional to larger financed emissions, a finding particularly true at US fund managers in the peer group, which accounted for seven of the largest companies.
Each trillion dollars invested led to an extra ten to 20 tonnes of CO2, the study found.
The unnamed asset manager exhibiting the highest carbon intensity and financed emissions was a global bond fund manager with significant exposure to emerging markets and high yield debt.
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European fund providers generally had more strategies focusing on European companies, which were often better positioned versus its non-European peers in addressing environmental risks.
European asset managers have generally had a higher initial percentage of their AUM committed to be managed in line with net-zero (ranging between 20%-35%) relative to the US ones (ranging between 10%-25%).
The research also found asset managers with more carbon-intensive equity assets were likely to have more carbon-intensive fixed income assets.
Comparing equity and fixed income assets revealed a clustering of carbon intensity between 100-200 CO2/USD million sales for both asset classes.
