In recent years, investing with a gender lens has become far more popular among institutional investors. “Part of it is awareness and part of it is some of the performance,” said Jackie VanderBrug, managing director and head of sustainable and impact investment strategy at Bank of America Corp., during a webinar hosted by the Forum for […]
The OPSEU Pension Trust has published its latest responsible investing report, highlighting a number of initiatives it’s undertaken in the past year. In 2019, the pension fund expanded its holdings in green bonds with a $100-million investment in such issuances from the Ontario government. It also received an A+ rating from the United Nations’ principles […]
The coronavirus pandemic is hastening certain trends that institutional investors incorporating environmental, social and governance issues have been eyeing for some time. One trend is the democratization of technology, which Catherine Flockhart, a director at Baillie Gifford, says her firm has been positioned for in certain strategies. While many point to the sudden increase in […]
When the dust settles from the coronavirus pandemic, what environmental, social and governance lessons will shine through? A recent blog post by Fiona Reynolds, chief executive officer of the Principles for Responsible Investment, pointed to differences between this crisis and the crisis of 2008. “While there are certainly parallels with the global financial crisis just […]
To stay on the cutting edge of environmental, social and governance integration, institutional investors have to expand their focus beyond the factors that are material to a company’s operations today and look ahead at what’s around the corner. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, this is becoming an integral part of investors’ analysis. “To […]
Corporate governance, climate change and human rights in the digital economy are primary focuses for Northwest & Ethical Investments in 2020. The Canadian firm’s annual corporate engagement focus list highlights five key themes and 26 investee companies it intends to engage with throughout the year. It’s planning to engage companies on governance issues including board diversity and board and […]
The most material and least quantifiable risks for mining companies lie in the social component of environmental, social and governance issues — and that’s where institutional investors looking at the sector should be focusing their attention and advocacy. Speaking at a panel discussion in Toronto on March 3, Amy Freedman, chief executive officer of shareholder […]
The League Against Cruel Sports is now acknowledging it dismissed an ethical vegan employee after he raised concerns over the organization’s pension plan. The employee, Jordi Casamitjana, told Benefits Canada in 2018 he was upset when he discovered the defined contribution pension provided by his employer meant his contributions were being invested in companies that were misaligned with his ethical […]
In an unusual move for an index provider, MSCI Inc. is urging the investment industry as a whole to incorporate environmental, social and governance issues into their investment processes. “Really we think there’s an urgency,” says Remy Briand, head of ESG at MSCI. “We think there are still too many investors that are not realizing that, […]
On Friday, a judge in Norwich, U.K. ruled that ethical veganism qualifies as a philosophical belief under Britain’s Equality Act, in a pension-related case filed by ethical vegan Jordi Casamitjana against his former employer, the League Against Cruel Sports. In late 2018, Casamitjana took his grievance to Britain’s employment tribunal, alleging he was unduly dismissed for raising concerns over the organization’s […]