An animal welfare charity is facing legal action from a former employee who says he was fired after raising concerns about the organization’s pension investments and its links to companies that engage in animal testing. Jordi Casamitjana alleges the League Against Cruel Sports, a British charity that campaigns against activities like dog fighting and hunting, […]
In advance of the climate change conference in Katowice, Poland this month, 415 global institutional investors signed a statement reiterating their support for the Paris climate agreement, noting the actions that various global governments must urgently take. Among the investors, which represent US$32 trillion in assets under management, the Canadian signatories include the Caisse de dépôt et […]
As part of an effort to reduce the carbon footprint of its public investments by 25 per cent between now and 2025, the Fonds de solidarité FTQ has announced it will integrate the MSCI World Low Carbon ESG Target Screen Index. This makes the Fonds de solidarité FTQ the first investor to announce integration with this index. […]
Volatility is the traditional measure of risk, but environmental, social, and governance principles can help identify risks that may not reveal themselves in the volatility numbers — and lead to a broader assessment of portfolio risk. With that, investors can ask, “Am I really happy to take on that risk, or do I need to […]
A few decades ago, people were concerned about the depleting ozone layer. Then, in the late 1980s, the Montreal Protocol was ratified to phase out ozone-depleting substances. Fast forward to today: the ozone hole is shrinking and is expected to completely close by 2060. “That says to me that if you get policymakers, business leaders […]
The Public Sector Pension Investment Board is acquiring a 49 per cent interest in a U.S. wind facility through its existing stake in renewable energy company Pattern Energy Group Inc. Pattern Energy Group has agreed to pay $23 million to private affiliate Pattern Energy Group 2 LP for a 35 megawatt-owned interest in a wind farm based in Stillwater […]
While global institutional investors’ ability to analyze fixed income products on environmental, social and governance factors is growing, the supply of socially or eco-savvy bonds isn’t keeping up with demand, according to new research by Cerulli Associates. “Cerulli research shows an increase in demand for ESG in all segments of the fixed-income market,” said André Schnurrenberger, […]
As climate change restructures the Canadian Arctic year by year, institutional investors should be paying attention to this all but undeveloped economy, according to one expert. “For those that live there, the dominant narrative is about how climate change is remaking the Arctic from a frozen periphery to an area of immense geographic and economic […]
The number of indexes at an investor’s fingertips grew by 12 per cent (or 438,000) in 2018, rising to 3.72 million distinct indexes globally as of June 30, 2018, according to a new report by the Index Industry Association. The association, which began tracking the world’s indexes in 2017, found fixed income was a popular theme during the […]
On Nov. 7, 2018, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) announced that it will be divesting from two U.S. publicly-held companies that operate private prisons. Then, on Nov. 14, 2018 CalSTRS announced it is part of a coalition representing $4.83 trillion in assets that joined together to promote five principles for a responsible firearms […]