April 2023
18Apr

European managers aim to hold line on ESG fees despite costs

Money managers in Europe said they are gathering more assets thanks to the explosion of investor demand for sustainable investment strategies in recent years, but they aren't yet charging higher management fees for ESG strategies even if their costs have increased. Adam Gillett, head of sustainable investment at Willis Towers Watson PLC, said that the costs involved in meeting the standards of the European Union's Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation are significant. "Where permitted and appropriate, managers may be including some of...

April 18, 2023
News,
Read more...
13Apr

UK. Government body calls on London pension fund to divest fossil fuel holdings

Transport for London Pension Fund, London, should divest its holdings in fossil fuel companies and develop an annual report on performance against net-zero targets, according to calls by a London governmental body. The Greater London Authority committee, which oversees the London Pensions Fund Authority and TfL Pension Fund, launched an investigation as part of a review into its pension funds' investments and costs. The pension funds had about £22 billion ($27.1 billion) in combined assets as of March 31, 2022. In...

April 13, 2023
News, , ,
Read more...
11Apr

US. Does ESG Matter in Public Finance? It Depends

In case you’ve tuned it out, there’s a battle underway between proponents of “sustainability” analysis of corporate business practices and those who favor “drill, baby, drill” and “anti-woke” free market profitability metrics and political slogans. The debate worked its way up to Capitol Hill, where Congress passed and President Biden vetoed a bill to stifle retirement account fiduciaries’ consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their funds’ investments. At the state level, meanwhile, a number of oil-rich states...

April 11, 2023
News, ,
Read more...
05Apr

US. NYC pension leaders to seek emissions cut plans from fund managers

New York City pension leaders will press external fund managers, including private market fund managers, on Wednesday for details on their plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions, officials said. Public, and private market managers that have faced less pressure on climate issues to date, run most of the roughly $240 billion in New York City pension fund assets. Boards overseeing the majority of that money have approved new expectations for those managers, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander said, which...

April 5, 2023
News, ,
Read more...
03Apr

‘Pensions have done more than most for ESG but it’s time for more action’

If the recent Treasury sub-committee on financial services regulations ("Greenwashing: sustainability disclosure requirements") is anything to go by, there remain far too many people in and around financial services who think we are doing a good job addressing sustainability challenges. We are not. Clients are confused, and despite pockets of excellence, sustainability challenges are getting worse not better. And neither of these will be addressed by investors sidelining real world problems or inciting ambulance chasing. Conflating welcome mass-market improvements, like entry level...

April 3, 2023
News, ,
Read more...

March 2023
31Mar

Sustainable Investment: Best Practice Disclosure Checklist for Pension Funds

By World Bank Group There are compelling reasons for asset owners – in particular large pension funds and sovereign wealth funds – to adopt sustainable investment, and for governments to support them in these endeavours. First, asset owners have a key role to play in providing the capital that supports national economic and development goals. Second, sustainability issues – for example, climate change, labour rights, public health – are important drivers of investment value. Third, asset owners play a key...

March 31, 2023
Books, Books, Pension Management, , , ,
Read more...
31Mar

ESG and Climate Change: Pension Fund Dos and Don’ts

By Randy Bauslaugh Pension fund administrators have a fiduciary duty to prudently manage financial risks and opportunities when investing plan assets and when managing plan operations that are paid from the pension fund. This includes the financial risks and opportunities associated with climate change and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. But what are the legal dos and don’ts? Plan fiduciaries will always be on solid legal ground if they take ESG information into account for financial purposes – to...

March 31, 2023
Articles, Pension Management, Savings, , ,
Read more...
29Mar

Why all policies, including pension reform, must consider climate change

“Retrait, climat, même combat,” shouted protesters during the demonstrations taking place across France this past weekend against President Emmanuel Macron’s planned, and much opposed, reform of his country’s pension regime. For these protestors, retirement and climate change are all part of the same problem, the same fight. “No retired people on a burnt planet,” they insisted. The impacts of a warming planet on the world of work are absent from the French government’s plans, yet extreme weather conditions, in particular...

March 29, 2023
News, ,
Read more...
27Mar

Canadian pension funds embrace ESG

Large Canadian pensions are making “impressive” progress on sustainable investments, according to the second annual Canadian Pensions Dashboard for Responsible Investing. The report examines the progress major Canadian pension funds have made in integrating ESG factors into their governance from 2020 to 2022. In just one year, the number of funds that have made public net-zero portfolio emission commitments by 2050 or sooner has grown from two to nine, which now accounts for or $1.8 trillion or 81% of total...

March 27, 2023
News, ,
Read more...
22Mar

Perspectivas de inversión sostenible en América Latina: oportunidades para empoderar a sus habitantes y proteger el planeta

Por Alejo Czerwonko, Chief Investment Officer Emerging Markets Americas, UBS Financial Services Inc. (UBS FS); Brennan Azevedo, CFA, Emerging Markets Associate Americas, UBS Financial Services Inc. (UBS FS); Donald McLauchlan, Emerging Markets Strategist Americas, UBS Financial Services Inc. (UBS FS); Xingchen Yu, Emerging Markets Strategist Americas, UBS Financial Services Inc. (UBS FS); Chinenyenwa Amaechi, Emerging Markets Analyst, UBS Financial Services Inc. (UBS FS); Amantia Muhedini, Sustainable Investing Strategist, UBS Financial Services Inc. (UBS FS); Ronaldo Patah, Emerging Markets...

March 22, 2023
Inversión, Libros, Libros, , , ,
Read more...