The Canada Climate Law Initiative is calling into question whether the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is sufficiently aligning its investments with the transition to a low-carbon economy. In a legal analysis, the organization said the pension fund’s current allocations to high-carbon assets reveal a “troubling incrementalism” within its efforts to mitigate Canadians’ exposure to […]
Environmental, social and governance issues are key for many Canadian pension plans, but taking meaningful action is easier said than done, especially at small and mid-sized organizations. With a team of about 30 people, the University of Toronto Asset Management Corp. managed more than $11 billion of the university’s endowment, pension plan and short-term working […]
The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change is launching a draft guide for investors seeking to align their investments with the Paris Agreement on climate change. The framework was developed in consultation with more than 70 global investors, managing an aggregate US$16 trillion in assets. It aims to help investors actively decarbonize their portfolios with the […]
The world’s natural resources that help sustain life on earth are making their debut as a distinct asset class with the introduction of a new joint venture asset management firm focused on natural capital. HSBC Global Asset Management Ltd. and climate change advisory and investment firm Pollination Group Holdings Ltd. are teaming up under the name HSBC Pollination […]
The CFA Institute is calling out the lack of clarity and standardization around environmental, social and governance investment products. In a consultation paper, the organization proposed its own set of standards, welcoming industry stakeholders to weigh in. As interest in ESG products continues to grow from both retail and institutional investors, confusion remains about the […]
Long-term engagement with companies on environmental, social and governance issues has been touted as a route to impact positive change, but a new paper from the Alternative Investment Management Association is arguing that short selling has a role to play in the realm of ESG. “Short selling can be an excellent tool for achieving two common […]
Institutional investors looking to score potential investments on environmental, social and governance factors now have a new option. Bloomberg is launching its own set of ESG scores, available to its terminal users. Initially, 252 companies in the oil and gas sector will receive environmental and social scores and more than 4,300 companies across several industries will be scored on […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is updating its policy on sustainable investing to reflect an increased conviction in the importance of environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities. “ESG considerations are inextricably linked to our ability to successfully achieve our investment objectives,” said Richard Manley, managing director and head of sustainable investing at the CPPIB, in a […]
With its recent acquisition of environmental, social and governance data analytics provider Sustainalytics, Morningstar Inc. is taking aim at the disparate ESG disclosure requirements still hampering the investment industry. In a recent report, Morningstar sussed out some of the issues hindering ESG measurement tools. “Simply put, ESG disclosures from issuers are all too often inconsistent and […]
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s 2019 climate change report contains its first-ever, independently assured portfolio carbon footprint. Even as the plan’s assets grew in 2019, it’s overall carbon footprint fell by about 15 per cent, driven in large part by the sale of a particularly high-emitting private asset, according to the report, which was assured […]