In the fall issue of the Rotman International Journal of Pension Management, Ed Waitzer, the Jarislowsky Dimma Mooney Chair in Corporate Governance at York University, Canada, argues the time has come for pension fund trustees and managers to lead rather than be dragged along. This article proposes a number of steps that can be taken to better align incentives and frame decision-making for longer-term perspectives.
Divesting from the oil sector has been a boon for La Caisse’s performance, as the Canadian pension giant says its energy investments have earned billions in value-add compared to the benchmark since the inception of its climate strategy. Head of sustainability Bertrand Millot unpacks the fund’s approach in an interview with Top1000funds.com.
Last month the book Achieving Investment Excellence, was launched in the auditorium of Dutch pension investor APG. The book is a guide to empowering pension fund trustees to get a good grip on the difficulty of successful long-term investing for pension funds. Top1000funds.com spoke to one of the authors, principal director investment strategy of PGGM, Jaap van Dam.
The Workforce Disclosure Initiative, which now has 127 investor signatories with $14 trillion, is calling for better company disclosure on workforce data in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 8, which calls for decent work for all.
Four US state treasurers are among 11 investors to sign a joint investor statement on corporate disability inclusion, and are urging others to get behind the cause. The investors, worth $1 trillion, believe companies must to do more to include people with disabilities in the workforce and are urging their portfolio companies to adopt best practice.
The evolution of frameworks, and taxonomies, for investing in ESG has given investors confidence in investing in the decades to come, delegates at the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Compass conference heard.
Impact investors need to start with a problem they are trying to solve, not an opportunity set, according to Tim Crockford, head of impact investing at Hermes Investment Management. Speaking at the RFK Human Rights Compass conference, he said impact investing is about finding the companies that are solving an un-met need through the products and services they are selling.
A proper perspective on ESG for pension fiduciaries is one that sees it as financial insight. As a result, fiduciaries, fund managers and their consultants should be demanding better and more fulsome ESG disclosure.
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