January 2021

13Jan

Swiss APK designs new climate strategy for investments

The managing board of Aargauische Pensionskasse (APK), the CHF11.6bn (€10.6bn) Swiss pension fund for the employees of the Aargau canton, has designed a climate strategy to hedge the fund against risks caused by climate change. The climate strategy for the entire equity portfolio kicks in this year. APK will aim to reduce climate risks “efficiently [and] cost-effectively” with a particular focus on equities. The strategy will also include three other additional pillars: commitment to increase dialogue with invested companies,...

January 13, 2021
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08Jan

Canada. Ontario students push teachers to pressure pension fund to divest from fossil fuels

An environmental coalition is appealing to Ontario teachers to pressure their pension fund to divest from companies that develop or transport fossil fuel products. In a four minute YouTube video, a group of students from across Ontario read a letter to their teachers, asking them to push the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan to stop investing their retirement savings in oil, gas, coal, and pipeline companies. The coalition — which consists of activist groups Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health,...

January 8, 2021
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08Jan

UK. ‘We didn’t want our pensions invested in anything that was causing harm’

Roy and Becky Francomb from East Sussex recently decided they wanted to move their bank accounts to somewhere more ethical. Photograph: Roy Francomb Lots of people have started 2021 with the aim of making green lifestyle changes such as going vegan or giving up flying. But arguably the most powerful environmental changes you can make as an individual involve your finances, whether it’s the cash in your current account or the money you are saving for retirement. Research issued this week by...

January 8, 2021
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07Jan

ESG Investing and Retirement Plans

As ESG (environmental, social and governance) investing recently has drawn the attention of governmental agencies that oversee the administration of qualified retirement plans and their trillions of dollars in assets.  This is unsurprising given that focus and interest in ESG investing has picked steam at a rapid pace in recent years.  On October 30, 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL) finalized amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s (ERISA) “investment duties” regulation (the Final Investment Duties Rule).  The...

January 7, 2021
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04Jan

Why the U.S. needs a national climate investment fund

In recent weeks, we have witnessed the power of innovation to solve catastrophic problems. Most notably, we have seen the extraordinary human accomplishment of delivering vaccines within a year to counter the novel coronavirus, COVID-19—an achievement that was accelerated by the U.S. government’s Project Warp Speed.  What many people may be less aware of is that across America and other global innovation centers, companies are striving to harness that same power to tackle climate change. Businesses of all sizes are toiling away...

January 4, 2021
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December 2020

23Dec

How an ERISA Fiduciary May Try to Save the World

By Albert Feuer On November 13, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) promulgated a final regulation regarding the investment duties of an ERISA fiduciary in selecting either direct plan investments or investment alternatives to make available to participants and beneficiaries of self-directed plans (the “Investment Duties Regulation”). The Regulation, like the proposed form of the Regulation, which provoked more than 8,000 public comments which were overwhelming critical, was intended to discourage what the DOL called ESG or sustainable...

December 23, 2020
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18Dec

Canada. Pension fund managers call for strengthened ESG disclosure by companies

In an unprecedented move, some of Canada's largest institutional investors have banded together to ask companies for more rigorous disclosures of environmental, social and governance factors, an effort they say is meant to promote more sustainable and inclusive economic growth. A group of eight pension funds, which together manage a total of about $1.6 trillion in assets, called on corporations in a joint statement Wednesday to standardize their disclosures of so-called ESG factors to help them in their investment...

December 18, 2020
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17Dec

Money Managers Pledge to Hit Net Zero. Now the Hard Part

In the past week, Macquarie Asset Management, the New York State Common Retirement Fund and a group of 30 fund management companies have come out with statements saying they’re serious about getting the world to net-zero emissions. The announcements are welcome news, but now comes the hard part: How will all these investment firms and pension plans put their words into action, and how long will it take? “It’s fair to be skeptical,” said Kyle Harrison, a New...

December 17, 2020
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10Dec

New York’s $226 Billion Pension Fund Is Dropping Fossil Fuel Stocks

New York State’s pension fund, one of the world’s largest and most influential investors, will drop many of its fossil fuel stocks in the next five years and sell its shares in other companies that contribute to global warming by 2040, the state comptroller said on Wednesday. Read also Exxon Under Pressure From New Activist Fund With $226 billion in assets, New York’s fund wields clout with other retirement funds and its decision to divest from fossil fuels could accelerate...

December 10, 2020
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09Dec

Pension funds increasingly require ESG compliance; here’s why they should look to Africa

The Scottish Widows Fund recently announced that it will dump £440m of company holdings that fail its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) tests. Being one of the most far-reaching exclusions policies adopted by a major UK pensions provider to date, it’s important to take note of this action. And as pension funds and asset managers across the world face increasing pressure to protect client portfolios from the risks of climate change, others will follow. Read also South Africa. Sustainability...

December 9, 2020
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