Finance firms’ claim to be ‘saving the world’ was a mistake, says City veteran

<p>Aberdeen chair says some asset managers may have put themselves at legal risk by exaggerating ESG role</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2025/jul/01/london-stock-market-best-first-half-dollar-slumped-house-prices-andrew-bailey-business-live">Business live – latest updates</a></p></li></ul><p>Pension funds and institutional investors made a “huge mistake” and exaggerated their role in environmental, social and government (ESG) issues to promote their products, the outgoing chair of Aberdeen Group, Douglas Flint, has said.</p><p>Flint, who has chaired the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/mar/04/abrdn-renames-itself-aberdeen-uk-fund-manager">recently rebranded fund manager</a> since 2019, said “ridiculously extravagant claims” had been made by some companies, which were driven by a mindset that their job was “not really about investing money: we’re just jolly good people and we’re saving the world”.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jul/01/city-finance-firms-aberdeen-asset-managers-esg-issues">Continue reading...</a>