Almost a third of General Motors Inc. investors with nearly $2 trillion in total assets under management voted in favour of a shareholder resolution last week requesting the car manufacturer disclose its lobbying practices around vehicle emission standards. The vote, led by Canadian responsible investment firm NEI Investments and New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, took […]
The OPSEU Pension Trust is highlighting its responsible investing efforts in its fourth yearly report. The report’s key themes included the pension fund’s focus on better measuring its exposure to climate change risk and promoting of gender diversity. On climate change, the OPTrust is aiming to get more and better quality information from portfolio companies on these issues. As well, the […]
The large majority of global investors in alternative asset classes believe the United Nation’s sustainable development goals are tools that can help the investment industry address urgent environmental and social issues, according to new research by LGT Capital Partners. In a survey of more than 200 institutional investors, including pensions, endowments and insurers from 28 countries, 91 per […]
Seventy per cent of Canadians said they think it’s important to invest in companies with strong environmental, social and governance performance, according to a new study by Mackenzie Investments. While a majority of survey respondents said they believe socially responsible investing is important, just 31 per cent hold ethical investments. Among those who don’t, one-third said they […]
As pension plans are engaging more often as active shareholders, some companies are beginning to chafe. One instance of pushback came after the the New York State Common Retirement Fund co-sponsored a proposal with the Church of England’s endowment fund requesting that Exxon Mobil Corp. include short-, medium- and long-term greenhouse gas reduction targets aligned with […]
Limiting global warming is essential to institutional investors, according to a new report by Mercer Canada. The report models three different scenarios, examining the impact of average warming of two, three and four degrees Celsius over three timeframes: 2030, 2050 and 2100. For both investors and the planet, limiting warming to two degrees is ideal, […]
After exceeding its target for low-carbon assets in 2018, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is now aiming to boost its low-carbon holdings to $32 billion by 2020, according to its second annual stewardship investing report. In 2017, the pension fund started with $18 billion in low-carbon assets in its portfolio and raised that to […]
While the pension industry is interested in environmental, social and governance factors, that isn’t translating into action when it comes to incorporating ESG funds into defined contribution plans’ investment options, according to a new report by Cerulli Associates. The report found, ESG-oriented investment options aren’t becoming too popular in the U.S. for three key reasons: fee […]
The OPSEU Pension Trust is making an additional purchase of $100 million in Ontario government green bonds, bringing its allocation in the asset to about one per cent of its total holdings. The bonds are a tool the provincial government uses to finance transit and energy efficiency projects, according to the press release. “As a […]
Investment management firm Circulate Capital is adding to the diverse sets of guidelines emerging in recent years for institutional investors looking to deepen their considerations on impact investing. As an impact-focused firm specializing in infrastructure, Circulate Capital has taken on the mission of leveraging capital to stem the flow of plastic into the oceans. “We’ve […]