Abstract
This article documents the sensitivity of asset returns to proxies of climate risk. We first construct a novel “extreme weather index” by combining meteorological observations with weather-related catastrophes data. We utilize this index, alongside a news-based indicator focused on climate concerns, to estimate climate “betas” for a cross section of asset classes. We deploy these betas in the context of adapting multi-asset portfolios to shocks in climate events or heightened media attention. We find that introducing new asset classes to a simple equity–bond portfolio, such as commodities, has an outsized impact compared with simply adjusting the type of investment strategy used within a pre-determined asset allocation. These additional asset classes improve portfolio diversification during times of climate stress but introduce a higher degree of tracking error and reduce risk-adjusted performance over the full sample period, highlighting a trade-off for portfolio construction.