Responsible Investor

RI Global news round-up week end 09/11/07

A round-up of the RI news you need to know.

A long-term review by the UK National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) of the 2001 UK Myners Principles on trustee responsibilities, says smaller pension schemes need targeted support to tackle areas of under-compliance, notably on self assessment. The report said adherence to the Myners Principles should continue to be voluntary for schemes but with additional comply or explain reporting for those with assets in excess of £250m It said it preferred this option to a mandatory independent compliance review. Broadly, the NAPF said UK pension schemes had improved compliance with the 10 Myners principles over the last six years. The ten Myners principles focused on areas such as decision-making, setting clear objectives for the fund’s investments and active engagement with investee companies.
Nordea, the €165bn Nordic fund manager has hired Hermes Equity Ownership Services to engage in companies within its investment portfolios with the aim of adding long-term value. The Nordic fund manager said the hire of Hermes was part of an increased approach to responsible investing. Nordea is the first fund manager signed up to Hermes EOS, which to date has pension funds clients including Denmark’s PKA, the Irish National Pension Reserve Fund, The British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme and the BBC Pensions Trust.
The $50bn Massachussets Pension Reserves Investment Management Board is selling $54m of shares in eight companies including Alstom and

PetroChina, that have been targeted by the Sudan Divestment Task Force, a non-governmental organisation operating divestment campaigns in the US, and now targeting pension funds in Europe. Massachusetts recently became the 21st US state to adopt a policy to divest from companies working with the Sudanese government. US pension funds have now pulled assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars from companies operating in Sudan.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) is threatening to put companies on its highest level of corporate governance failure – a red top warning – that will not allow fund managers to cast opposing votes on the same resolution at company AGMs, reports Thomson Investment Management News. It said Peter Montagnon, director of investment affairs at the ABI, had written to the government demanding changes to the new Companies Act over a clause that could prevent them from doing so. Fund managers can have multiple pension fund clients with different views on the same resolution. Stephen Haddrill, Director General of the ABI, has also called for the UK government to be tough with its forthcoming Climate Change Bill and face up to the consequences of more erratic and dangerous weather. He said this summer’s floods in the UK had cost the insurance industry more than £3bn.
Railpen Investment, one of the largest UK pension funds, has extended its corporate governance overlay mandate with Governance for Owners (GO) to cover its

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