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ESG round-up: Australia publishes sustainable finance roadmap

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ESG round-up: Australia publishes sustainable finance roadmap

The Australian government has published a sustainable finance roadmap, setting out timelines for a series of key policy pillars and regulatory moves. Among the topics covered are mandatory climate-related financial disclosures, taxonomy implementation and developing sustainable product labels.

Kristy Graham, CEO of the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute, said the roadmap provided “welcome clarity” and praised the mentions of nature and climate adaptation in the roadmap.

Aegon UK is set to switch 74 percent of the £12 billion ($15 billion; €14 billion) largest default fund of its workplace pension offering into decarbonising mandates. The allocations, which will be managed by BlackRock, cover passive equity and debt investments, with the switch set to be made by the end of this year. The funds have an initial reduction in emissions intensity against their benchmark followed by 7 percent year-on-year reductions, and are set to also have a 20 percent improvement in taxonomy-aligned green revenues.

The fund will also begin investing in private assets, with allocations to private debt and alternative fixed income to be managed Aegon’s asset management wing. Infrastructure, private equity and forestry assets will be managed by JPMorgan Asset Management. Lorna Blyth, head of investment propositions at Aegon, said the move would “significantly support” the firm’s desire to put £500 million into climate solutions by 2026.

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Dutch pension funds have cut their investments in fossil fuel producers by just over two-thirds since the Paris Agreement, according to new analysis by a coalition of Dutch NGOs. The group looked at seven of the largest funds, which together manage around 70 percent of Dutch pension assets, and found that holdings in fossil companies had fallen from €15.5 billion in 2017 to €5.0 billion in 2023. PME, the pension scheme for the mechanical and electrical engineering sector, and civil service pension scheme ABP have seen the largest contraction in holdings, ditching 92 percent and 81 percent respectively.

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has one active enforcement case against a company on climate grounds, according to a freedom of information request filed by legal group ClientEarth. Documents shared with lawmakers this year show that the issues in the case “had been a matter of supervisory focus with the firm for more than two years” before the investigation was opened.

Commerzbank has described proposals put forward by the EU’s financial regulators to reform SFDR as “promising” but said there were some aspects that could be developed further. A note from the bank’s head of ESG research, Stephan Kippe, said the product category proposals should address the main shortcomings of the current framework. He added that there should be a separate impact category, and designing a framework for transition criteria “could prove challenging”.

Planet Tracker has accused the plastic industry of engaging in greenwashing due to its promotion of recycling as the “silver bullet” to the plastic pollution crisis, in a new report. “The plastic industry’s tactics have successfully shifted focus away from upstream measures, such as limiting production and adopting alternative materials,” said John Willis, director of research at Planet Tracker. “By promoting the illusion of recyclability, the industry has effectively passed the financial burden of waste treatment onto local municipalities and waste-pickers, often the financially weakest link in the plastic supply chain.” In May, Responsible Investor spoke to investors who are ramping up engagement with companies on the issue.

Crédit Agricole’s wealth management arm Indosuez has launched an Article 9 green bond fund. The fund, a 2028 fixed maturity fund, invests in around 60 ICMA-aligned green bonds across a broad sector and geographical range.

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The Society of Pension Professionals has published a practical guide for UK trustees to engage with their asset managers on ESG. The guide aims to provide an outline of various disclosure requirements, ESG obligations for managers, and information that trustees need from them. Sophia Singleton, the society’s president, said there was “still some uncertainty” around the topic and that the guide aimed to raise awareness and understanding.

The number of companies disclosing a transition plan that they regard as 1.5C-aligned has increased 44 percent since 2022, according to CDP, the environmental data disclosure nonprofit. One-quarter of companies (5,906) that disclosure to CDP report having climate transition plans in place last year. But just 1 percent of firms report against all 21 climate transition plan indicators in CDP’s questionnaire. 

The Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) has published revised guidance on how central banks should disclose climate-related information. The updates to the guidance, first issued in 2021, introduce two tiers for disclosure: “baseline”, for foundational information that supervisors should disclose; and “building blocks”, for more “advanced pieces of information that central banks ‘are encouraged to’ disclose”. Building block KPIs tabled by the NGFS include forward-looking metrics for physical and transition risks, and their external communications strategy for raising awareness on climate risks.

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SixCap Healthcare Finance Appoints Carroll as Senior Relationship Manager

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SixCap Healthcare Finance Appoints Carroll as Senior Relationship Manager

SixCap Healthcare Finance added Dan Carroll as senior relationship manager, reporting to the company’s co-founder and chief investment officer, Dan Whitwer.

Carroll brings more than 20 years of commercial finance, portfolio management and healthcare asset-based lending experience to SixCap. Throughout his career, he has managed complex healthcare lending relationships, led portfolio management teams, overseen loan closings and partnered closely with borrowers to support growth while maintaining disciplined credit management.

Most recently, Carroll held leadership positions at Siena, CNH Finance and Triumph Healthcare Finance, building extensive expertise in healthcare lending, credit analysis, loan structuring, risk management and client relationship management.

In his new role, Carroll will oversee borrower relationships across SixCap’s growing healthcare portfolio, working closely with clients to provide proactive portfolio management, responsive service and financing solutions that evolve alongside their businesses.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Dan to the SixCap team,” Whitwer said. “I’ve had the privilege of working alongside Dan and have seen firsthand the integrity, experience and thoughtful approach he brings to every client relationship. He understands healthcare, he understands asset-based lending and, most importantly, he understands the value of building lasting partnerships. As our portfolio continues to grow, Dan’s leadership and commitment to exceptional client service make him a tremendous addition to our team.”

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Big financing steps forward for The 78, Foundry Park projects

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Big financing steps forward for The 78, Foundry Park projects

Two of Chicago’s most pivotal but challenging undeveloped sites — Foundry Park on the North Side and the vacant South Loop parcel known as The 78 — moved forward in a big way Wednesday before the City Council adjourned for a summer recess.

Mayor Brandon Johnson introduced a $201.6 million tax increment financing subsidy for JDL Development’s scaled back vision for North Side industrial land along the Chicago River that once was supposed to be home to the Lincoln Yards megaproject.

And despite a slew of concerns from Council members, the full Council approved a $425 million TIF for The 78, a reference to Chicago’s unofficial 78th community area. The subsidy will bankroll public improvements needed for the South Loop development, anchored by a $750 million soccer stadium privately financed by Chicago Fire billionaire owner Joe Mansueto.

Downtown Ald. Bill Conway (34th), whose adjacent TIF is being raided to help The 78, again refused to go along with the $250.1 million piece of the infrastructure package that will primarily be used to build a 1,200-space parking garage. The $216 million garage will serve as the “podium” for an open-air plaza and future high-rise development on the air rights above the garage.

Referring to the Bears’ long-running stadium saga, Conway said Wednesday he appreciates the Fire “not trying to move to Hammond, Indiana, and become the Hammond Sparks.” But he said he “cannot look the taxpayers in the eye and tell them” he supported spending “$250 million to build a stadium parking garage and plaza.”

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Finance Chair Pat Dowell, whose 3rd Ward includes The 78, has argued that the podium “brings the site to grade at Roosevelt Road” and is the key to “unlocking the site from the isolation that has stalled every previous development proposal.”

Deputy Planning Commissioner Jeff Cohen made that same point Wednesday, with a new wrinkle.

“The idea here is to incorporate that garage into the podium,” Cohen said. “It’s addressing a design and development plan that allows for all of the land within The 78 to be open for investment, rather than having to have either temporary or permanent surface parking lots to accommodate the car traffic.”

An artist’s rendering of the planned Chicago Fire soccer stadium at The 78 in the South Loop.

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The $201.6 million subsidy proposed for Foundry Park pales by comparison to the $1.3 billion that former Mayor Rahm Emanuel once proposed for Lincoln Yards. That massive subsidy became a political lightning rod, with the avalanche of criticism led by the Chicago Teachers Union and then-union organizer Brandon Johnson.

The $201.6 million subsidy that Johnson introduced at Wednesday’s Council meeting is more likely to be criticized for being too little.

It will support just over 25% of the $800 million worth of roads, bridges, utilities and mass transit improvements that 2nd Ward Ald. Brian Hopkins has said were mandated as part of the Lincoln Yards plan.

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Foundry Park developer Jim Letchinger acknowledged that there is “other infrastructure that the neighborhood would like to see done that is not possible right now.”

But Letchinger added it’s a start that includes the long-promised extension of the popular 606 Trail. “If you don’t start with something that’s achievable, you can’t achieve anything.”

“We have a plan to actually start building and creating revenue right away in conjunction with building our infrastructure … A lot of parks. Massive riverwalk. Ten acres of public open space. Very usable, very engaging,” Letchinger said Wednesday.

“As we continue to build, since we’re not using anywhere near all the increment that we’re creating, the other increment can go toward other projects that the neighborhood would like to see — whether it’s to build a bridge or fixing Elston Avenue, or anything else that they’re anxious about,” he said.

Public improvements promised to residents, but not covered by the $201.6 million subsidy, include another bridge crossing the Chicago River and a realignment of Elston Avenue, which Letchinger called a positive move in the long run, but a “massive undertaking” complicated by cost and property control.

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“No private developer can realign Elston. It’s impossible. The city is the only one that can do that, and they’re working on it. There’s plans for it. But it will take a very long time,” Lechtinger said.

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) said there is “one bridge that a lot of people still want,” but it goes through private properties owned by Ozinga Ready Mix Concrete and several other owners.

“The city would have to do it as a taking [of property], and that would be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. So they took that off the table because … that bridge wasn’t necessary at this time,” Waguespack told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Letchinger’s plan for roughly 34 vacant acres of the site calls for up to 3,737 residences, 20% of them designated as affordable to comply with the city’s set-aside rules. The new design includes low- to mid-rise buildings, some for offices, grouped near open space and riverfront access. Buildings would get ground-floor retail, and one is slated as a boutique hotel.

The project’s reduced density has drawn praise from residents. And Waguespack said he’s satisfied with the reduced public subsidy.

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“In the future if there’s more needed, we could go back and do it. But this is much more grounded in a realistic infrastructure project that will still satisfy all the needs of connecting the neighborhoods,” Waguespack said.

Hopkins said he views the scaled-down subsidy and the infrastructure projects as “wholly inadequate” and a broken promise to Lincoln Park and Bucktown residents.

“Lincoln Yards provided for two bridges with the possibility of a third. Foundry Park has zero,” Hopkins said. “I don’t want to move on a vague verbal promise that we might consider adding a bridge later. The time to add it is now while the redevelopment agreement is still pending. And the fact that it was omitted is tragic. Also, the [Elston-Armitage] intersection redesign and the new Metra station seems to have fallen by the wayside.”

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, Johnson proposed a tax break for Chicago’s booming film and television industries — by reducing the 15% personal property lease transaction tax to 11%.

The tax has been raised twice in recent years and was the biggest piece of the revenue package that helped balance the $16.7 billion budget for 2026. It has exceeded revenue projections by $40.3 million through June 30, allowing Johnson to offer the break in hopes of attracting more film and TV productions to Chicago.

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The City Council also followed a trail blazed by Gov. JB Pritzker and his counterparts in six other states by prohibiting present and former city employees — and elected officials — from using insider information to bet on prediction markets. Apps including Kalshi and Polymarket are used to place bets on everything from election winners and the number of candidates entering a specific race for office, to budgetary and foreign policy decisions by elected officials.

Championed by Ald. Timmy Knudsen (43rd), the ordinance prohibits current or former city officials, appointees and employees from using “confidential information or any non-public information, including the identity of the subject of an investigation” to either participate in prediction markets or “assist any other person” placing those bets.

The Council also confirmed Johnson’s appointment of Dr. Garth Walker as the city’s public health commissioner.

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Finance

The average cost of fertility treatments and how to plan for them

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The average cost of fertility treatments and how to plan for them

Covering the cost of fertility treatment can feel like yet another hurdle in a process that is already physically and emotionally draining. Not only do you have to go through the testing and medical procedures involved, you can also end up paying tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

For families who want to have kids or women who want to afford themselves a little more time, though, this can feel like a price well worth paying. But the process may necessitate some financial planning. Research can also go a long way, as insurance companies increasingly offer coverage.

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