Six of Canada’s largest pension funds have been ranked among the world’s most responsible institutional investors.
The ranking, by the Bretton Woods II program at U.S. think tank New America, was developed in partnership with the Global Development Incubator and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. It analyzed 125 pension and sovereign wealth funds comprising US$20 trillion in assets, and identified 25 funds as leaders in developing new strategies to manage social, governance and environmental risks.
Read: Fewer Canadian pension funds lagging behind on climate change, study finds
Canada had the highest number of funds represented on the list with six of the 25. These included: the Alberta Investment Management Corp., the British Columbia Investment Management Corp., the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board.
“The responsible asset allocator initiative is a window into the future of investing,” said Tomicah Tillemann, director of the Bretton Woods II program at New America, in a news release. “In the past, there was a misperception that asset allocators had to choose between maximizing returns and deploying capital responsibly. Our findings show that that is not the case.
“With an average fund size of almost US$200 billion, the [list] includes many of the world’s largest, most sophisticated funds. They are embracing environmental, social and governance stewardship as core components of their investment decision-making process. As fiduciaries, many realize that doing so is necessary to maximize risk-adjusted returns.”
Read: U.S. pension funds looking at Canadian model for investment practices
The project evaluated 125 global funds on 10 principles, including: disclosure, integration, commitment and accountability. The list includes funds from Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America.