When the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan started to zero in on environmental, social and governance issues, it began by asking why these subjects were worth pursuing in the first place. “We started this journey 10 years ago,” said Barbara Zvan, chief risk and strategy officer at the Ontario Teachers’, during a session at the Canadian Investment […]
The Nasdaq is launching a publicly available, web-based sustainable bond network. Bond issuers will be able to use the platform to voluntarily publish data and information on their sustainable offerings, aiming to give investors better ability to compare products. At the outset, the network will feature data from certain European and U.S. bond issuers, with […]
More investors responsible for allocating capital to investment management firms (nine per cent) would still consider investing, or invest, with a money manager discovered to have workplace sexual harassment issues compared to last year (four per cent), according to a survey by the Investment Management Due Diligence Association. And, 71 per cent of investors don’t […]
The rise in alternative investing combined with an increased focus on integrating environmental, social and governance considerations into the investment process is leading pension plans to a natural question: how can they integrate ESG in real estate portfolios? The buildings sector has one of the highest carbon footprints, said Derek Warren, vice-president and portfolio manager […]
The majority of Canadian institutional investors say they don’t think shareholders should take precedent over all other stakeholders, including employees, at a given company, according to a new survey by Daniel J. Edelman Holdings Inc. It found 91 per cent of respondents said maximizing profits in the interest of shareholders can no longer be the primary purpose of […]
Connecticut state Treasurer Shawn Wooden, who oversees $37 billion in public pension funds, will announce Tuesday plans to reallocate $30 million worth of shares in civilian firearm manufacturer securities, while banning similar, future investments and creating incentives for banks and financial institutions to enact gun-related policies. If ultimately approved by an advisory board, it will […]
MSCI is making its ratings on environmental, social and governance issues publicly available off the back of growing interest from numerous stakeholders. This move is part of MSCI ESG Research’s mission to help investors, companies and other industry stakeholders identify the most financially relevant ESG risks and opportunities, through greater transparency and access to ESG […]
Twelve of the 25 top global asset owners were pension funds as of year-end 2018, according a new report by Willis Towers Watson’s Thinking Ahead Institute. The report found, among the top 100 asset owners, pension funds held 59.1 per cent of the fund assets, down 1.7 per cent from 2017, primarily due to assets […]
While many investors say they apply environmental, social, and governance considerations in their investment processes, few actually include them in formalized product documents. According to a report from Cerulli, most signatories of the Principles for Responsible Investment demonstrate ESG capabilities in public materials, like their websites. However, just 4.5 per cent of assets controlled by […]
The Canada Pension Plan isn’t taking sufficient action to address climate change, according to a new report by the Corporate Mapping Project and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Specifically, the report said the CPPIB isn’t investing with the goal of limiting the global rise in temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius. “Within its public equities […]