May 2020
25May

U.K.’s Largest Pension Fund Urges Total to Clamp Down on CO2

The U.K.’s biggest pension fund said it will back a climate resolution asking for France’s Total SA to adopt a tougher stance on climate change at its annual shareholder meeting next week. The resolution was brought by 11 European asset managers last month, in another example of investors pressuring Big Oil to tackle environmental challenges. Since then, Total has set out bold commitments to eliminate most of its emissions by 2050, joining others such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc...

May 25, 2020
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21May

Large European companies fall short on ESG disclosure – report

Many of Europe's largest public companies are not adequately disclosing their environmental and climate-related risks, according to a report being released Tuesday by the Climate Disclosure Standards Board. The CDSB looked at Europe's 50 largest companies, with a combined market cap of $4.3 trillion, and found that in 2019, despite European Union reporting guidelines, 78% of them did not adequately report climate and environmental risks, and 42% omitted potentially material environmental or climate-related information for their sector. Also, 1...

May 21, 2020
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19May

ESG regulations and their impact on advice

There are regulatory changes afoot in the world of responsible investment, which are going to have a fundamental impact on the advice process. Since 2018, there have been over 170 ESG (environmental, social and governance) related regulatory measures proposed globally - that is more than the previous six years combined. In 2018, the European Union also published a recommendation to make ESG investing easier across Europe. This was through the European Commission making a formal request to the...

May 19, 2020
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06May

Ara Partners closes USD-400m industrial decarbonisation fund

Private equity firm Ara Partners has achieved a USD-400-million (EUR 369.5m) close for its debut fund, Ara Fund I LP, which was created to support the decarbonisation of the industrial economy through investments in North America and Europe. Capital commitments came from various institutional investors in North America, Europe and Asia, including public pensions, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations and family offices. “We seek near-term, tangible carbon reductions and profitable growth through rapid adoption of sustainable industrial products and...

May 6, 2020
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06May

Ara Partners closes USD-400m industrial decarbonisation fund

Private equity firm Ara Partners has achieved a USD-400-million (EUR 369.5m) close for its debut fund, Ara Fund I LP, which was created to support the decarbonisation of the industrial economy through investments in North America and Europe. Capital commitments came from various institutional investors in North America, Europe and Asia, including public pensions, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations and family offices. "We seek near-term, tangible carbon reductions and profitable growth through rapid adoption of sustainable industrial products and...

May 6, 2020
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April 2020
04Apr

Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index 2019 (MMGPI)

By Mercer, Monash University, MELBOURNE Ageing populations continue to be a significant issue for many economies as we are living longer and fertility rates continue to decline. Pension systems are becoming more important than ever as households want to maintain their living standards throughout retirement. But how is this possible, especially within the economic environment of low interest rates and reduced economic growth? There are implications for employers, employees, governments, as well as the pension funds....

April 4, 2020
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March 2020

25Mar

UK. Parliament pension fund cuts fossil fuel investments

Parliament’s pension fund has made record investments in renewable energy and cut its exposure to fossil fuel companies to bring MPs’ pensions in line with the government’s climate action targets. A report from the £700m pension fund showed that almost a third is now being invested in low carbon and environmentally sustainable funds following calls from hundreds of MPs to align the fund with the government’s legally binding climate commitments. Read also Swedish Pension AP1 Divests From Fossil Fuels ...

March 25, 2020
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24Mar

UK. Parliamentary pension fund steps up renewables investment, but MPs insist full divestment urgently needed

MPs and peers have today again called on Parliament's pension fund to divest from fossil fuel assets, after its latest annual report revealed that despite an uptick in green investments the fund is still heavily reliant on fossil fuel majors. The cross-party Divest Parliament initiative today responded to the recently released annual report from the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF), which revealed that the fund has significant increased its interest in low carbon assets while reducing its exposure to...

March 24, 2020
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18Mar

BlackRock Converts Money Market Portfolio to Environmental Fund

BlackRock is converting its BlackRock Money Market Portfolio to the BlackRock Wealth Liquid Environmentally Aware Fund (WeLEAF), which the firm says is the first environmentally aware money market product dedicated for the US wealth market. Read also LGIM to launch its first fossil fuel-free pension fund after pressure “Client interest in our LEAF series has revealed tremendous demand for sustainable liquidity management,” Thomas Callahan, BlackRock’s head of global cash management, said in statement. “WeLEAF was designed to answer...

March 18, 2020
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13Mar

Climate risk body launches consultation for pension schemes

The UK-based Pensions Climate Risk Industry Group (PCRIG) has launched a public consultation on non-statutory guidance for the trustees of occupational pension schemes on assessing, managing and reporting climate-related risks. PCRIG was set up last summer by the UK’s Department of Work and Pensions and other government departments to develop industry-wide guidance for pension scheme trustees on climate-related risks and voluntary alignment with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). European investors “not yet pricing...

March 13, 2020
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