South Africa. The impact of ethical investment by pension funds
The core functions of a pension fund are to provide its beneficiaries with good enough returns for them to live on – and a good enough world to retire into.
It makes little sense to simply strive to generate financial returns for pensioners, if the investments that provide those returns are reckless, bad for the planet or perpetuate social inequality and inequity.
It is thus common sense that responsible investing – which all investing should actually be – must go far beyond simplistic bottom-line considerations.
Those tasked with making such investments must dig much deeper, before taking decisions that can have far-reaching ramifications both for their fund members and society at large.
In a country such as South Africa, which is infamously the most unequal in the world, their investment choices have an amplified impact on the poorest of the poor, who do not have the means to escape their circumstances.
They cannot emigrate to fairer climes or fight pollution, for example. They are bound to their situation.
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