Germany's LBBW Asset Management was the judges' choice for the global Innovation of the year (funds and portfolios) award for what it described as the first systematic biodiversity factor to be implemented in a live fund.

Turned into a quantitative factor and powered by data from deforestation data platform Forest IQ and the Natural Capital Finance Alliance's ENCORE tool, the framework captures biodiversity harm and potential solutions and is fully systematic and scalable.

LBBW AM said the factor is a full-stack implementation allowing for clean universe construction and excluding controversial actors and biodiversity-damaging firms.

The framework provides a template for institutional adoption and a new standard for biodiversity investing, according to LBBW Asset Management, and has delivered significant returns compared with peers.

"This is a genuine step change in sustainable investing innovation by transforming biodiversity into a systematic, return-relevant factor with live fund performance and clear institutional scalability," said one Sustainable Investment Awards judge.