Fiduciary duty: fantasy or fact?

In this challenging paper, Gordon Clark describes fiduciary duty as somewhat of a fantasy, because it looks to convention rather than forward to innovation in investment management.

Clark argues that the design and governance of investment management institutions is, actually, more important than honouring the principle fiduciary duty which, in the context of Anglo-American statute, is increasingly empty.

In the penultimate section of the paper he focuses on the mechanisms used to cultivate a regulatory regime that is long-term oriented and responsive to “the climate change challenge that confronts humanity”.

Fiduciary duty statute and pension fund governance

Sponsored Content

Leave a Comment

GIC, Temasek eye trillions of growth in climate adaptation market

GIC, Temasek eye trillions of growth in climate adaptation market

Singapore’s two largest asset owners, GIC and Temasek, see attractive opportunities in climate adaptation solutions – a relatively underfunded area compared to decarbonisation. The former has already made selective adaptation investments and said the opportunity set across public and private debt and equity could increase to $9 trillion by 2050.

Sort content by

Alternative PE vehicles underperform

Alternative private equity vehicles underperform the associated main fund, new research from Harvard's Josh Lerner and MIT's Antoinette Schoar has shown for the first time - but skilled limited partners flip the script.

Pensions’ flawed return forecasts

We all know past performance is not indicative of future results, but a new study finds evidence that US public pensions are basing performance forecasts on their own prior experiences anyway.

PRI demands ESG action from consultants

A new report from the Principles for Responsible Investment states that investment consultants must put ESG issues at the core of the advice they offer, to build a sustainable finance system.

A guide to long-term mandates

Focusing Capital on the Long Term has published a paper with 10 things asset owners and managers can do to negotiate deals that align their incentives – and thinking – with longer time horizons.

SDGs economic opportunity: report

A new report from the PRI and PwC states that global investors can perform their fiduciary duty and create a boon in market opportunities and jobs by actively pursuing the SDGs.

Investors’ role in company collaboration

Investors play an important role in facilitating corporate collaborations to improve sustainability says a leading Harvard academic in sustainability.

Previous