Asset managers overseeing $37tn are failing to force carbon-heavy companies to meet global targets for reducing emissions, with a handful of smaller UK and US companies doing much of the “heavy lifting” on behalf of the industry.

According to a report by InfluenceMap, the UK-based think-tank, investment portfolios held by some of the world's largest asset managers, including BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street, “remain significantly misaligned” with climate-change goals set by world leaders in Paris in 2015.