The United Nations’ Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance is reporting that 81 of its institutional investor members, representing combined assets under management of US$9.4 trillion, have set intermediate decarbonization targets. In its fourth progress report, the institutional investor association also reported reductions in absolute financed emissions of, on average, at least six per cent annually. The […]
The Canadian edition of an international set of sustainability investment disclosure standards will be officially released in December, according to the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board. The organization was tasked with creating a set of sustainability investment standards in Canada based on those created by the International Sustainability Standards Board. The two new disclosure metrics — CSDS […]
By focusing on biodiversity, institutional investors are helping to tackle the climate crisis, says Jane Ambachtsheer, global head of sustainability at BNP Paribas Asset Management. “When we talk about the biodiversity crisis from an economic perspective, we’re talking about a significant portion of global [gross domestic product], which is reliant on nature to some extent,” she […]
Climate risk and energy transition present huge investment opportunities for pension plan sponsors seeking to invest for the long term, said Bertrand Millot, head of sustainability at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, speaking during a panel session at an event hosted by the United Nations’ principles for responsible investment in Toronto earlier […]
Institutional investors are disclosing the environmental impact of their assets through increasingly sophisticated sustainability reports that use the latest disclosure metrics. While some of Canada’s largest pension funds are at the forefront of how to leverage responsible investment mandates and attempt to enact change through leadership in global organizations, the shortcomings of data reporting standards […]
Driven by the net-zero pledge towards green investments, institutional investors are finding themselves uncomfortably wedged between a rock and a hard place. If they invest exclusively in green assets and earn lower returns than the broader stock market benchmark, as was the case in 2023 for environmental, social and governance funds, they’re criticized for underperforming. […]
The Independent Electricity System Operator’s pension plan is in the midst of a comeback from a period of heightened post-coronavirus pandemic volatility, with diversification as the key to its investment roadmap, says Jeannette Briggs, the organization’s director of corporate finance who served as chair of its pension management committee from 2021 to 2023. After conducting […]
As global markets navigate turbulent economic waters, active management is proving once again to be a lifeline for institutional investors to ensure their portfolios ride out the storm. Pension funds are currently operating amid uncertainty and potential risk, says Ruslan Goyenko, an associate professor of finance at McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management. “There are […]
A majority (98 per cent) of Canadian institutional investors consider climate change a top environmental, social and governance focus area, according to a new survey by consultancy Millani. The survey, which polled 40 institutional investors with more than $5.8 trillion in assets under management, found they also ranked diversity, equity and inclusion (45 per cent) and […]