2025 could mark a turning point for sustainable finance, with the EU’s CSRD and global ISSB standards driving transparency. Financial institutions will need to navigate evolving frameworks, balancing compliance challenges with sustainability opportunities.

COP29 advanced international carbon trading with key agreements. Mixed signals on the energy transition, however, affirm investors’ view of an uneven transformation, while investment to address climate-driven physical risk looks likely to continue apace.

When investors assess risk, they construct narratives around the data. Investment managers and asset allocators can look to the long history of market sell-offs for context, to better anticipate future drawdowns and prepare portfolios for what the future may hold. 

This major new report examines the financial impact of CORSIA on airlines, assessing carbon credit demand, supply and prices. Our modeling shows that the cost of CORSIA carbon credits could add up to USD 2 (Phase 1) and USD 5 (Phase II) to average ticket prices.

The MSCI Analytics Summit in London brought senior industry experts together to explore the evolving landscape of risk management — what we’ve taken to calling the “future of risk.” Here are the key takeaways from the conference. 

Spreads on corporate mezzanine loans in private-credit funds have fallen dramatically since 2022, changing the picture on the loans that are normally deemed higher-risk than senior loans. Funds treated real-estate borrowers differently, however. 

Global carbon-credit investment has surged in recent years with nature-based carbon projects attracting the most funding, driving emission reductions, sustainable development, biodiversity protection and job creation across developing regions. 

“Deconglomeration” in the 1980s signaled a shift to corporate specialization, particularly in the U.S. We found that diversified firms have tended to lag the profitability and growth of their single-industry counterparts.