North American institutional investors are catching up to other global regions in their interest in sustainable investing, according to a new survey by FTSE Russell. Nearly half (42 per cent) of North American asset owners surveyed before the coronavirus pandemic said they’re interested in sustainable investing, up from just 17 per cent in 2019. This remains a […]
Climate change has accelerated the risk of expensive natural disasters, but these risks still aren’t being adequately taken into consideration in investment decisions. “Climate risks oftentimes are evaluated more under ‘E’ in [environmental, social and governance risk assessments],” said Jeff Schlegelmilch, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, in a webinar hosted […]
The British Columbia Investment Management Corp. has released its environmental, social and governance strategy, which outlines its beliefs, principles, governance and how its investment strategies consider ESG factors. The strategy includes four components: integrate, influence, invest and insight. In particular, the BCI is focused on integrating ESG analysis and risk management into investment processes, influencing […]
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s 2019 climate change report contains its first-ever, independently assured portfolio carbon footprint. Even as the plan’s assets grew in 2019, it’s overall carbon footprint fell by about 15 per cent, driven in large part by the sale of a particularly high-emitting private asset, according to the report, which was assured […]
The vast majority (81 per cent) of global pension plan sponsors said they have allocations to some kind of climate change-related funds, according to a new survey from CREATE-Research. Specifically, when it comes to passive funds, 44 per cent of respondents said they allocated at least some of the passive segment of their portfolio to a climate change-related […]
The Principles for Responsible Investment has released a framework for investors to help focus on aligning their activities with the UN’s sustainable development goals. “Issues such as human rights abuses, climate change and inequitable social structures seriously threaten the longterm performance of economies, investors’ portfolios and the world in which beneficiaries live,” the report said. […]
Meeting a deadline in the midst of a pandemic seems like a good test of corporate resiliency and, according to a recent survey of Canadian Principles for Responsible Investment signatories that I conducted on behalf of my consulting firm Real Alts, the majority of respondents likely passed. The survey found that almost 80 per cent […]
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is joining a consortium of other institutional investors to invest in certain gas pipeline assets of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. The assets are valued at $20.7 billion and the other investors include Global Infrastructure Partners, Brookfield Asset Management Inc., Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, NH Investment & Securities Co Ltd. and Snam, an […]
Quebec-based pension fund Bâtirente reached $764.3 million in assets under management as of Dec. 31, 2019, an increase of 15.6 per cent on the previous year, according to its latest annual report. The fund also boasted 22,861 plan members in 2019 — a growth of 4.9 per cent over 2018 — from 318 organizations across […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has released its annual report, highlighting the results previously announced on Feb. 20, including a return of 10.4 per cent for 2019 and a growth in net assets of $30.6 billion for the year. “2019 was a good year for investors – markets experienced one of their […]