Funds with sustainable investment as its objective

The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority, Finansinspektionen (FI) has conducted an in-depth analysis of how managers of funds registered in Sweden that have sustainable investment as its objective (so-called Article 9 funds) meet the requirements on sustainability-related disclosures in the pre-contractual information they must provide to investors.

The background for our analysis is the new regulatory framework on sustainability disclosures that is applicable since 10 March 2021 in Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on sustainability‐related disclosures in the financial services sector (SFDR). The regulation aims to make investors more knowledgeable about sustainability risks, improve comparability between financial products in terms of sustainability, and reduce the risk of greenwashing. It is also one of FI's top priorities in 2022 to review greenwashing in the financial sector and take steps to prevent it.

Our review shows that there is room for development and improvement in the information provided to investors. We expect managers to read the conclusions from our analysis and consider them in their continued implementation of the regulatory framework. FI also encourages managers to read future guidance from the EU Commission and ESMA and adapt their operations as these become available.

FI will continue to analyse the disclosures and promote the implementation of necessary improvements. As a next step, FI is planning communication and dialogue meetings with the industry. In cases where FI sees a need for further follow-up, this will occur with the managers in question.