May 2021

Canada’s top pension funds boost investments in high-carbon oil sands

Canada's biggest pension managers boosted their investments in the country's major oil sands companies in the first quarter of 2021, raising questions about the funds' recent commitments to greening their portfolios. Read also Pension-Fund Investment in Forestry The cumulative investment by the country's top five pension funds into the U.S.-listed shares of Canada's top four oil sands producers jumped to $2.4 billion in the first quarter of 2021, up 147% from a year ago, a Reuters analysis of U.S. 13-F filings...

How Far Could Pension Funds Drive Sustainable Investing?

Pension funds could be a formidable force in getting companies to embrace environmental, social, and governance (ESG) values such as combating climate change or advancing employment equity. Yet they must align those goals with their fiduciary duty of protecting the retirement funds of their members. In the U.S., they must also overcome challenges including gaps in ESG adoption metrics and ambiguity about government rules on such investing. Those were the key takeaways from a two-day conference organized by Wharton’s...

Bonos Verdes, una Nueva Forma de Inversión en El Mercado de Valores

Por Martha Elizabeth Guaigua Vizcaino, Mónica Patricia Mayorga Díaz, Jesahel Yanette Vildoso Villegas El presente trabajo se enfocó en los bonos verdes y su participación en el mercado de valores ecuatoriano, los objetivos fueron resaltar los beneficios al invertir con bonos verdes en el mercado de valores, analizar las desventajas que pueden presentarse al invertir en bonos verdes y establecer una estructura para la emisión de bonos verdes dentro del Ecuador. El enfoque fue el estudio explicativo, el tipo de...

Pension-Fund Investment in Forestry

By Clark S. Binkley, Fiona Stewart and Samantha Power A forestry investment can include land suitable for growing trees, the trees themselves, or both. The trees can be part of a natural forest or one that has been established artificially by seeding or planting. Natural forest management typically has lower operating costs than plantation forests, but also a lower growth rate. Plantation forests are typically, but not always monocultures. Forestry has long provided opportunities for institutional investors – but the scope...

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board eyes assets in shift to clean energy

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is hunting for investments in the world’s transition to renewable energy as it aspires to be a global leader in sustainability, the head of the company told Reuters on Thursday. “One of the keys here is investing in the transition with a view that for the world to transition to a zero carbon world, many of the existing conventional players are going to be leaders in the future,” John Graham, president and chief...

The transition of financial services to ESG and green finance

As we tackle one of the biggest global crises of our time, green and sustainable issues are becoming more critical than ever for business leaders in the financial services sector. Julian Wells, director and financial services & FinTech lead at Whitecap Consulting, shares some perspectives. Sustainability in business has tended to be primarily associated with long-term commercial performance issues such as with balance sheet strength, brand reputation, and enterprise value. Now, there is an additional movement gaining significant momentum and...

Can green fintechs solve the polluting pension problem?

Fintechs have seen green, launching apps that help us track the carbon emissions of our shopping habits, play the stock market in a planet-friendly way and even fight plastic pollution with our debit cards. These offerings are nudging consumers towards better behaviours, but there is one far bigger and far less sexy financial problem this crop of startups now wants to tackle. Pensions. A new survey from YouGov and Money Matter found that 44% of people would switch over to a...

Germany hatches plan to attract green investment capital

The German government is planning a new green financing strategy to steer capital towards environmental projects and developing Germany into a leading hub for sustainable finance, plans seen by Reuters show. The so-called Sustainable Finance Strategy plan lists 26 individual measures and is due to be adopted by the cabinet on Wednesday with a view to mobilising investment for climate protection projects. "The federal government wants to develop Germany into a leading location for sustainable finance," states the plan, which is...

UK. Pension funds urged to help UK reach net zero climate goals

Pension funds must set a target of net zero emissions for their investments if the UK is to meet its climate goals, influential figures in climate activism have urged. Many people are unaware of whether their pensions funds are invested in fossil fuels or high-carbon activities, and even companies that have publicly committed to reaching net zero emissions may have pension fund investments that are still wedded to high-carbon businesses. As the UK prepares to host the UN climate talks Cop26...

Canadian pension officials hailed as climate champions

Two Canadian pension fund officials were hailed Tuesday by the British High Commission and the Canada Climate Law Initiative as Canadian climate champions for their efforts to move Canada to net-zero emissions. The list of 26 champions includes Barbara Zvan, the inaugural president and CEO of the University Pension Plan, Ontario, and Kim Thomassin, executive vice president and head of investments in Quebec and stewardship investing for the Caisse de Depot et de Placement du Quebec. Last July, Ms. Zvan was...