Institutional investors want ‘climate competency’ in Canada’s boardrooms: report
Ontario plans tout ESG progress at responsible investment conference
University hangs on to fossil fuel holdings
Most plan administrators know by now that, effective Jan. 1, 2016, the statement of investment policies and procedures will once again become a filed document with the Ontario pension regulator.
In early June, G7 leaders committed their countries to reducing carbon emissions by 2050 and eliminating them by 2100. Even before the G7 announcement in Germany, there had been concerns expressed over how carbon reductions might impact investors in energy and energy-related companies. If governments legislate reductions in global carbon emissions, the fear is that oil, gas and coal consumption would decline, resulting in capitalized fossil fuel reserves that will never be extracted. These potential surpluses are referred to as stranded carbon assets.
And how asset owners can tap into them.
Voice over exit. That’s the succinct phrase Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) uses to describe its philosophy on sustainable investing, preferring to engage with companies, rather than divesting.
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors were always around, but now they’re here to stay. Under the new Ontario Pension Benefits Act (PBA), effective Jan. 1, 2016, a plan sponsor’s statement of investment policies and procedures (SIPP) must include information about whether ESG factors are incorporated and, if so, how. And, by the beginning of […]
In Ontario, the regulator recently made it a requirement effective Jan. 1, 2016 for pension funds to disclose whether environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors have been incorporated in the pension fund’s Statement of Investment Policies and Procedures (SIPP). Similar provisions are already in place in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden and Belgium, and it’s expected more Canadian provinces will consider making ESG consideration mandatory as well. Given how recent the requirement is, most pension funds are just starting to discuss their beliefs around ESG factors and the degree to which they will be incorporated in the SIPP and investment decision making.
Where responsible investing meets risk management