Pension funds should demand an overhaul in the product offerings of funds managers and change the terms of mandates to incorporate environmental, social and governance issues in portfolios, according to Colin Melvin, chief executive of Hermes Equity Ownership Services, who pointed to a number of funds in the UK, including the owner of Hermes, BT Pension Scheme, considering such action.
How to allocate if the world has changed forever
The financial crisis has challenged pension funds to rethink standard asset allocation models, but as Jonathan Armitage, head of US equities at Schroders observes, a lot of investors are questioning whether they need to react.
Crisis fails to derail support for ESG
A new report commissioned by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has found environmental, social and governance investment criteria in emerging
markets are being embraced by most of the asset management community despite the economic crisis.
USS, ABP and PGGM collaborate on real estate
Three of Europe’s largest institutional investors have teamed up to investigate the way environmental issues are assessed and managed by real estate companies.
Shareholder influence under question: ICGN conference
The ability to appoint and dismiss company board directors is the most important shareholder right according to an overwhelming majority of delegates at the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) annual conference, who were more cautious on whether shareholders could actually influence corporate governance once they had the right to vote.
Changing the world, one vote at a time
As the International Corporate Governance Network held its annual conference this week, its new
executive director, Carl Rosen, spoke with Amanda White about the challenges for the year ahead, in particular prioritising the changes to shareholder rights in the US.
