The latest
Sustainability Digital – March 2021

Diversity Impact Score

Throughout its history, the U.S. domestic Asset Management Industry, projected by PwC to grow to $71.2 trillion in assets under management by 20251, has exhibited an empirical lack of diversity with respect to gender and ethnicity within its ranks. Numerous studies have shown that Women and People of Color (“POC”) are underrepresented in the Industry, including a 2019 study commissioned by the Knight Foundation finding that Asset Management firms owned substantially or majority-owned by Women or POC managed only 1.3% of the Industry’s total assets under management.
Sustainability Digital – March 2021

Sustainability in the time of Covid-19

2020 underlined just how closely connected the world is. The pandemic broke out in a market in China but quickly spread to the rest of the world. The health crisis soon escalated into a serious economic crisis – a crisis of which we still do not know the full consequences of. Being able to act quickly and safely in a changing world is more important than ever. Many of PensionDanmark’s members and companies have endured periods of lockdown, and jobs have been lost as a consequence. The hotel and restaurant industry, the transport industry and the many employees at Denmark’s airports have been particularly hard hit. Many of the companies that were not shut down had to implement restrictions and other measures to protect themselves against COVID-19.
Sustainability Digital – March 2021

Asset Owner Technical Guide: Selection

The incorporation of ESG factors within the investment process has evolved from a nice-to-have to a necessity. Client demand has grown strongly, with 68% of the PRI’s asset owner signatory base addressing ESG considerations in their requests for proposals (RFPs). This means that many asset owners expect investment managers to include financially material ESG factors within their funds and investment strategies. In addition, policy makers around the world are introducing regulatory requirements for both investment managers and asset owners to disclose and report on responsible investment practices.
Sustainability Digital – March 2021

Asset Owner Technical Guide: Monitoring

A growing number of asset owners now expect their investment managers to incorporate ESG factors into their investment processes. This means that ESG needs to be at the core of the relationship between the asset owner and the investment manager – and that ESG considerations need to be addressed at every stage of that relationship, from setting the initial investment strategy, to drafting requests for proposals, to selection, appointment and monitoring.
Sustainability Digital – March 2021

Asset Owner Technical Guide: Appointment

Asset owners increasingly include ESG considerations in their investment management agreements (IMAs) and other legal documentation. More than two-thirds (69%) of PRI asset owner signatories typically implement ESG requirements in contracts such as IMAs and limited partner agreements (LPAs).1 To ensure that investment managers abide by their clients’ ESG requirements, certain legal aspects are becoming standard features of the asset owner-investment manager relationship.
Sustainability Digital – March 2021

A Greener Fiscal Future

With fiscal policy now the dominant lever supporting growth in most economies, it has become even more important to understand how the various fiscal policies will flow through to GDP, inflation, and different markets. We have been working to get our understanding of fiscal policy to the same level as our understanding of monetary policy. This is a difficult task, as fiscal comes in so many forms, each having different implications at the macro and micro levels. Some policies can be clearly counter-cyclical (the best of these are typically direct checks and shovel-ready infrastructure), while others aim to address more structural problems (like low productivity or environmental issues) but are less effective cyclically, as they are typically longer-term.
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