July 2023

UK. PPF Chair commits to new strategy to expand sustainability

New strategy outlines four sustainability goals across Responsible Investment, Diversity & Inclusion, community impact, and operations and supply chains. Targets include: Having achieved Net Zero for Scope 1 and 2 for its direct operations, the Fund will aim to reach Net Zero in its operational supply chain and travel emissions by 2035 or sooner. Contributing to the global transition to Net Zero through its investment portfolio and engagement activities. Year-on-year, achieving an increase in representation across all under-represented groups. Ensuring that at least 500...

June 2023

ESG in DC Pensions Report

By Emma Simon & John Greenwood In recent years responsible investment strategies and the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in the investment process have moved from a niche concern to the mainstream. In the last 12 months ESG and responsible investing have shot to the top of the agenda for pension professionals, driven by a combination of regulatory pressure, increased consumer awareness, reputation management concerns and the Covid pandemic. Greater public awareness of the relationship between investments...

US. Pension funds would have $21 billion more without fossil fuel holdings – study

Several public pension funds under pressure to divest from fossil fuel investments would have had as much as $21 billion more over the last decade without them, according to a study by the University of Waterloo released Wednesday by advocacy group Stand.Earth. In the report, The Impact of Energy Investments on the Financial Value and the Emissions of Pension Funds, researchers at the university's School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED) used Bloomberg data to analyze six large pension funds'...

UK pension funds still holding £88bn in fossil fuels, despite increased climate commitments

UK-based pension schemes have more than £88bn invested in fossil fuel firms, the equivalent of £3,000 per pension policyholder. That is according to Make My Money Matter, which has analysed the fossil fuel investments of more than 50 of the nation’s largest pension schemes. Most of these schemes have net-zero targets but are yet to completely stop investing in fossil fuels. While some fossil fuels are likely to be used in a net-zero world, Net-Zero Tracker recently confirmed that no major...

U.S. Treasury partners with CDPQ, managers on sustainable investing

The U.S. Treasury has partnered with Canadian pension fund CDPQ, asset managers Natixis Investment Managers and Ninety One, the Rockefeller Foundation and others to accelerate pension fund and other institutional investment in emerging and developing countries over the next three years. In particular, the new partnership will focus on investing in energy transition and sustainable infrastructure, and will be led by the Investor Leadership Network, according to a statement from U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. "Today, we are proud to announce...

México. Empresas públicas trabajan en Cuestionario ASG: Amafore

La Asociación Mexicana de Afores (Amafore) informó que las emisoras públicas nacionales se encuentran trabajando en el llenado del cuestionario de criterios en materia Ambiental, Social y de Gobernanza Homologado para Emisoras Públicas (Cuestionario ASG Homologado). La Amafore refiere que el Cuestionario ASG Homologado tiene como objetivo “recopilar y unificar, bajo un mismo criterio, la información relacionada con los avances en materia ambiental, social y de gobernanza de las emisoras en las que las administradoras invierten o podrían invertir”. El gremio...

CEO of Malaysia’s largest pension fund warns body could divest from companies not committed to ESG goals

Even as Malaysian firms are encouraged to take a step-by-step approach towards achieving environmental, social and governance (ESG) compliance, they should not be disregarding ESG issues, or this could put them at risk of having the country’s largest pension fund withdraw its investments. In one of his strongest warnings issued to-date, Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan, chief executive of Malaysia’s Employment Provident Fund (EPF), said the fund will divest from companies not committed to ESG goals. Speaking at a session on...

ESG resolution round-up: US pension giants split on climate proposal at Japanese bank

Big US public pension funds are divided on the merits of a climate proposal filed at Mizuho Financial Group which calls on the Japanese “mega-bank” to issue and disclose a transition plan to align its lending and investments with the Paris Agreement.     Californian giants CalPERS and CalSTRS have pre-disclosed that they will vote against the resolution on Friday, despite supporting a similar request at the bank in 2020. But The Office of the New York City Comptroller, which oversees...

The politicisation of investments at US public funds

By Amanda White with Sarah Rundell The attempts by multiple Republican states to restrict where US pension funds can invest is symptomatic of bad governance. Top1000funds.com takes a deep dive into the quagmire of US state pension funds to assess the impact of partisan politics on the ability of CIOs to do their jobs. The analysis highlights the need for improved practices around delegated authority to prevent the politicisation of investments. So much has been written about the rise and fall...

US. DOL took thumb ‘off the scale’ in finalizing new ESG rule, official says

Despite mischaracterizations and political backlash, the Department of Labor's new rule permitting retirement plan fiduciaries to consider environmental, social and governance factors when selecting investments and exercising shareholder rights does not tip the balance in favor of ESG, a key department official said Tuesday. "The final rule that we put out, notwithstanding what you may have heard, doesn't require consideration of ESG, it doesn't mandate that every investment have an ESG score attached to it, it doesn't mandate that if...