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.
Ben Caldecott from The Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme at the University of Oxford explains how emerging technologies, changing client preferences, new regulatory landscapes, and evolving economic geographies create new opportunities for more effective engagement and forms of active ownership.
Resources in the investment value chain have to shift away from financial modelling and trading towards stewardship and engagement according to Luba Nikulina, global head of manager research at Willis Towers Watson, speaking at the 8th Sustainable Finance Forum run by Oxford University.
Engagement and stewardship in private equity has been left out in the cold. This is strange for an asset class with high returns and where the foundation is already in place for the asset manager to act on behalf of the asset owner for strong engagement. Bob Eccles encourages more action.
Pension funds have “no business” engaging with policy makers but instead should influence change through stewardship, which is also the main function of asset managers, according to John Kay, Supernumerary Fellow in Economics at St Johns College, Oxford University.
Should investors collectively prioritise engagement issues, and if so what is at the top of the list? This was one of the topics delegates discussed at the 8th Sustainable Finance Forum run by the Oxford University Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment together with The Rothschild Foundation and the KR Foundation.
Last month Ceres convened the largest group of businesses calling for climate legislation in at least a decade. Their message was loud and clear: Congress must put forward policy responses equal to the severity of the climate crisis including a national price on carbon.
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