While all environmental, social and governance factors are increasingly important to Canada’s institutional investors, it’s the social aspect that’s been a key driver of investment choices. David Ryan, executive vice-president of corporate and financial communications at Edelman Canada, says 74 per cent of Canadian institutional investors surveyed in 2020 prioritized social factors over environmental and […]
A coalition of Canadian university endowments and pension plans are launching a new initiative to engage investee corporations on climate change risks. The initiative will engage with North American public companies held in university endowment and pension portfolios and will focus on sectors including finance, transportation, energy and utilities and manufacturing, according to a press […]
The British Columbia Investment Management Corp. is raising its environmental, social and governance-related expectations for the publicly-traded companies it invests in. Under its new proxy-voting guidelines, updated every two years, the BCI made several significant changes in relation to diversity and inclusion, climate change and executive compensation. Specifically, the BCI now expects that women will […]
The British Columbia Investment Management Corp. is raising its environmental, social and governance-related expectations for the publicly-traded companies it invests in. Under its new proxy-voting guidelines, updated every two years, the BCI made several significant changes in relation to diversity and inclusion, climate change and executive compensation. Specifically, the BCI now expects that women will […]
Canadian businesses are taking a wider view of their social responsibilities amid the coronavirus pandemic, economic disparity and protests against racial injustice, according to a new survey by Mercer Canada. It found 65 per cent of Canadian human-resources leaders believe their company has continued or stepped up the pace towards an environmental, social and governance- […]
Pension plans in Canada now factor environmental, social and governance monitoring in their investment process, and in the absence of national guidance, plan managers are using various tools and methods to analyze ESG risk, noted panelists of a roundtable recently hosted by The Association of Canadian Pension Management. “Considering ESG requires a balance of the investment […]
Institutional investors, regulators and financial standard organizations are calling on Canadian corporations to adopt transparent climate-risk reporting, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. The report noted corporate directors have the legal and fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of their companies in developing strategies to address climate-related financial risks […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is continuing its investment partnership with MacKinnon, Bennett & Company Inc. in the form of a new joint $150-million investment in late-venture and early growth-stage companies focused on the decarbonization and transition to renewable-energy-powered transportation. The Caisse initially invested in the company in 2016 and again in […]
Following an unprecedented 2020, Canada’s plan sponsors and pension plans are incorporating the lessons of the last year as they prepare for a new decade, according to a recent webinar hosted by Mercer Canada. The coming years will be marked by developments including increased geopolitical tensions and the lingering economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, […]
Two pension funds for New York City workers are pulling an estimated US$4 billion in investments from fossil-fuel companies in order to promote clean-energy use. Mayor Bill De Blasio and Scott Stringer, the city’s comptroller, announced Monday that the boards of the $91.4-billion New York City Employees’ Retirement System and the $77.4-billion New York City […]