Despite recent uptick in U.S. commercial office real estate landlords defaulting on their loans, the chances of the same trend moving north of the border is low, says Jim Clayton, professor and Timothy R. Price chair in real estate and infrastructure with the Schulich School of Business at York University. Since the onset of the […]
Environmental, social and governance investing is a powerful tool that can reveal systemic issues impacting all parts of institutional investors’ portfolios, said Aaron Bennett, chief investment officer of the University Pension Plan, during the 2023 Responsible Investment Association conference last week. Some of these issues can accrue over time — and, when they finally manifest, they can […]
When key stakeholders are examining sustainability solutions, they aren’t spending enough time on whether these solutions are actually capital efficient from energy return on investment and productivity perspectives, said Patrick Kent, portfolio manager and head of the small-cap equities team at Newton Investment Management Group, during the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2023 Global Investment Conference. The […]
There’s a distinct window of opportunity for institutional investors to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through refurbishing brown buildings in Europe to make them operationally carbon neutral, said Lucy Swinton, investment director at Fidelity International, during the Canadian Investment Review’s 2023 Global Investment Conference. Environmental, social and governance — particularly the ‘E’ aspects — is increasingly becoming a disruptive […]
Proxy voting is playing a bigger role in institutional investors’ environmental, social and governance strategies, according to Christie Stephenson, executive director of the Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, speaking during the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2023 Global Investment Conference. Long viewed as a value […]
As world markets contend with supply chain issues stemming from climate change, the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, environmental, social and governance considerations are slowly taking a more prominent role in pension funds’ risk assessments. In particular, Canadian pension funds are taking a progressive approach to ESG investing. Many have become signatories of […]
Since interpretations of environmental, social and governance investing can vary, institutional investors can leverage artificial intelligence tools to strip away the noise and reveal data sets required to eliminate greenwashing and generate sustainable alpha, said Andy Moniz, senior vice-president and director of responsible investing at Acadian Asset Management, during the Canadian Investment Review’s 2022 Investment […]
Three-quarters (75 per cent) of institutional investors say their alternative asset managers are either meeting or exceeding performance expectations in 2022 despite operating in a challenging and volatile market period, according to a survey by EY. The survey, which polled 114 hedge fund managers, 112 private equity firms and 61 institutional investors, found 50 per […]
Canadian institutional investors are more likely (58 per cent) than their global peers (50 per cent) to view making a positive impact on society and the planet as the main reason to focus on sustainable investment outcomes, according to a new survey by Schroders. The survey, which polled 770 institutional investors around the globe, found the vast […]
In case you missed it, a recent legal opinion by pension lawyer Randy Bauslaugh suggested plan sponsors might be personally liable for failing to consider risks posed by climate change in the institutional investment decision-making process. Bauslaugh’s paper connected the dots between the current evidence on the materiality and urgency of the financial implications of climate change and the recent reflection of this […]