Guest • Emanuele Bellingeri – CEO Italy @ UBS asset management
ENGLISH VERSION
Mr. Bellingeri together with the ESG journal team
“Integrating sustainability at the core of investment processes is no longer optional—it is a necessity. In Italy, however, this transformation requires vision, adaptation, and courage.”
Integrating ESG criteria into Italy’s investment processes is no longer merely an operational or cultural challenge; it is a strategic opportunity to steer the entire financial system toward long-term goals. We recently had the opportunity to discuss this with Dr. Emanuele Bellingeri, CEO of UBS Asset Management Italy, who noted that the country’s stance remains ambivalent: on one hand, a traditionally conservative investment culture persists; on the other, heightened regulatory pressure and growing market awareness are making ESG an increasingly central factor in financial decision-making.
Compared to other European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, or the Nordic nations, Italy has historically adopted a more cautious approach. This stems from certain structural characteristics: an entrepreneurial fabric dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises with limited resources, a traditional business culture rooted in family continuity, and a financial market less dynamic than its Anglo-Saxon counterparts.
In recent years, however, signs of change have emerged. The adoption of European regulations such as the SFDR, the EU Taxonomy, and the recent CSRD has energized the conversation, prompting all actors in the system to engage more seriously and structurally with ESG themes. At the national level as well, Law 220 of 2021 has contributed to placing sustainability among the country’s top priorities. Within this evolving landscape, organizations like UBS Asset Management Italy play a key role: they bring the expertise and solutions of a global asset manager while tailoring them to the specific needs of the local market, offering concrete and customized support.
Globally, however, ESG is going through a delicate phase. Some major financial institutions have slowed down or even reconsidered their commitments, withdrawing from initiatives such as the Net-Zero Banking Alliance or the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative. The reasons behind this retreat are varied: regulatory or reputational concerns, doubts about performance, or pressure from anti-ESG movements, particularly strong in Anglo-Saxon contexts where sustainable strategies are sometimes perceived as less profitable in the short term.
In this somewhat polarized environment, a crucial question arises: how should an asset manager act to remain credible, ambitious, and performance-oriented? Dr. Bellingeri reiterates the importance of ESG strategic intelligence as a tool to anticipate risks and seize opportunities such as energy transition, clean technologies, or supply chain resilience. ESG should not be treated as a label or a separate division, but integrated into core processes such as risk management, sector analysis, and management evaluation.
Another pillar of the UBS approach is active engagement: the use of voting rights and constructive dialogue with companies to drive measurable and concrete transformations. It is essential to rethink the time horizon used to assess the effectiveness of ESG. In the short term, sustainable strategies may appear less profitable, especially when compared to traditional energy sectors, which can be more lucrative during periods of instability. However, over the long run, companies with strong ESG standards tend to be more resilient: they are less exposed to scandals, sanctions, regulatory pressure, and environmental risks. ESG, therefore, is not merely a value-based choice but a concrete strategy for portfolio selection and protection.
COMPANIES ENGAGEMENT INTERACTIONS BY THEMES
Source: UBS Asset Management 2024
Among the main threats to the authenticity of the sustainable transition is greenwashing: unfulfilled promises. When a fund claims to be ESG compliant but is not, the trust between investors and the market is broken. The damage is twofold: it undermines the credibility of the entire sustainable ecosystem and creates unfair competition that penalizes those truly committed to transformation.
At the opposite end of the greenwashing spectrum lies greenhushing: companies that, out of fear of criticism or scrutiny, choose not to disclose their ESG progress. This strategic silence hinders transparency, comparability, and collective progress. It too represents a systemic risk, as it compromises the market’s ability to identify best practices and incentivize virtuous change.
As Dr. Bellingeri points out, regulation alone is not enough. It is necessary to build a widespread culture of sustainability, grounded in pillars such as financial education, ESG training, and communication tools that are clear and accessible even to small investors.
In today’s context, it is no longer sufficient to simply “do more ESG.” We must do ESG better: with strategic vision, solid expertise, operational rigor, and bold decision-making. True leadership means staying the course even when the winds shift. Climate ambition does not conflict with performance, provided it is supported by concrete tools and strict accountability.
The future lies not in superficial adherence to sustainability, but in its deep, transparent, and conscious integration into business and investment models.