BOSTON - Although there is overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is underway and governments are imposing regulations to curb greenhouse gases, the vast majority of the world's largest investment managers are not factoring climate-related trends into their short- and long-term investment decision-making, the result being significant 'hidden risks' in the trillions of dollars of investment portfolios they are managing.

This is the key conclusion of a new Ceres report released today that surveyed leading assets managers in 2009 on their responses to the increasing business risks and investment opportunities associated with climate change. The survey was sent to the world's 500 largest asset managers, according to the Pensions & Investments Global 500 Survey.

"Despite the growing recognition of the far-reaching impacts climate change will have on the global economy, only a handful of asset managers are integrating climate risks and opportunities throughout their investment practices," said Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres and director of the Investor Network on Climate Risk. "These findings make clear that the investment community is overly focused on short-term performance and ignoring longer-term business trends such as climate-related risks and opportunities. The recent subprime mortgage meltdown is a painful reminder of the fallout for investors who ignored 'hidden' long-term risks."

For more on the Ceres report, visit at: http://www.ceres.org/Page.aspx?pid=1175

Download a copy of the full survey report at: http://www.ceres.org/pub/assetmanager