ESG alpha solution
in a labyrinth

More than 1000 asset owners and service providers have signed up to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, and yet the question on everyone’s lips remains how to actually integrate sustainability into the investment process and ultimately add alpha. Bill Mills, managing partner of Highland Good Steward Management, has an idea and a platform … Read more

Institutional investors fall behind USA Inc

Institutional investors are clearly behind in risk management compared to the innovative techniques implemented in treasury departments of corporate America, chief investment officer of Wurts and Associates, Jeff Scott says. Scott, who spent his career managing the balance sheet at Microsoft, Dow Chemical, the Alaska Permanent Fund and now investment consultant Wurts, says institutional investors … Read more

Pipes over promises

The Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is shunning European sovereign bonds, with the $152.8-billion fund’s head of investment saying European infrastructure offers far more attractive risk/return opportunities. Mark Wiseman, CPPIB’s executive vice-president of investments, told delegates at last week’s Milken Institute Global Conference 2012 in Los Angeles that the fund had chosen not to … Read more

Epic change predicted for investment industry

The investment management industry must address the high fees it charges in relation to the realistic returns it can achieve in the current environment, attendees at the CFA Institute’s annual conference were told this week. As part of celebrations of the 50-year history of the CFA Charter, a panel of eminent institute members discussed the … Read more

Listed companies are failing on sustainability

US companies are failing to meet a 10-year roadmap to sustainability and some sectors globally are ‘inherently unsustainable’ requiring a drastic refocus, according to two separate reports released this week by leading sustainability research firms Ceres and EIRIS. A report on the progress that some of the world’s biggest companies are making towards achieving sustainability … Read more

OECD, ITUC call for more green investment

Amid calls from global leaders for pension funds to invest more in the green economy, institutional green investments still languish at less than 1 per cent of portfolios. A recent OECD report looks at some of the barriers facing investors wanting to invest more in the sector, with regulatory uncertainty and a lack of suitable … Read more