Responsible Investor

Sustainable and responsible investment in Switzerland is as enigmatic as the mountains that dominate the land. It has only six asset owners signed up to the PRI compared to 42 asset manager signatories and 14 service suppliers. But dig below the surface and there is much more happening amongst the country’s asset owners than the numbers reveal. This RI INSIGHT, published in association with RobecoSAM, includes interviews with ASIP, RobecoSAM, CAP Prévoyance, Nest Sammelstiftung, UBS, Ethos, Suva and Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF). It’s a fascinating market. This RI Insight report goes under the mountain to look at why more is happening in Switzerland in responsible investment than you might think.

Long-form journalism for long-term investment issues. ESG Magazine (launched September 2015) is the first dedicated print publication for sustainability in capital markets covering responsible investing, responsible banking, sustainable insurance, sustainable finance, impact investing, corporate sustainability and more. It is published by Response Global Media, publishers of Responsible-Investor.com (launched September 2007), the leading daily news service covering responsible investment, ESG and sustainable finance for institutional investors globally.

The 8th annual RI Europe conference (London, 2-3 June 2015) was attended by 524 delegates, representing 284 organisations from 26 countries.

The third annual RI MSCI Roundtable was moderated by Responsible Investor and hosted by MSCI, with participants from: Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management. MN, Royal London Asset Management, RPMI Railpen and USS Investment Management. This fascinating round-table discussion is titled ‘GSE’, reversing the usual order of ESG – Environmental, Social and Governance factors. This is because for institutional investors, especially equity holders, corporate governance is the legal framework for ensuring their shareholder rights and views are respected and heard. It also tends to be the main channel (voting and engagement) through which environmental and social issues are broached. We believe the quality and breadth of this round table discussion reflects the significance of this evolution. We hope you find this report stimulating and thought provoking.

今年度のRI Asia カンファレンスは、4月21、22日の二日間、日本の東京証券取引所で開催されました。カンファレンスには、多くの来場者が訪れ、活発な情報・意見交換が行われました。

This year’s RI Asia conference, which took place in Tokyo on April 21/22, at the Tokyo Stock Exchange came at a fascinating juncture. In the context of the Abenomics plan of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the so-called Third Arrow of the strategy (the third of three), the Japan Revitalisation Strategy has put improved relations between investors and corporates at its heart in a bid to drive higher corporate efficiency.

Northern Trust Asset Management: The changing shape of environmental, social and governance (ESG) “regulation” is among the main drivers of ESG investing growth. To better understand the issues around this topic, our latest paper examines the status of global efforts to pass legislation and implement codes of practice and self-regulation. What do these efforts mean for investors as they consider incorporating ESG criteria into their portfolios? And will these efforts encourage investors to look at ESG when they otherwise might not? Click here to discover more.

There’s no doubt that Limited Partners (LPs) demands to the General Partners (GPs) to integrate ESG factors into portfolio analysis and decision-making have changed the way GPs are having to think about their portfolio companies, and reporting on their activities. In RI’s Asset Owner Benchmarking survey (to be published April 2015), 66% of the LP respondents say they will undertake a private equity request for proposal / manager search in the next two years with 79% regarding ESG as a differentiator when hiring private equity managers. Which makes this RI INSIGHT: Private Equity 2015 required reading. Click here to download the full report.

Discuss the most investment-relevant, critical ESG issues facing the global investor community at: RI Europe 2015 – Strategic, risk-aware investing in a rapidly changing world. 2 & 3 June 2015 | The Tower Hotel | London. Click here to download the brochure for further information.

318 delegates participated in high-level debate with some of the leading responsible investment and corporate sustainability figures at the RI Americas 2014 conference at Bloomberg’s MPR Auditorium, New York on December 9th & 10th. Download to read the full report.