Responsible Investor

The $395bn Norwegian Government Pension Fund plans to invest up to 5% of its assets in real estate and expand its benchmark portfolio to include more emerging markets. Norway’s Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen said it also planned to increase the fund’s limit on ownership stakes in individual companies from 5% to 10%. The fund returned 4.3% in 2007 and since 1998, average annual nominal return has totalled 6%. The fund has also instigated a ban on investing in companies selling arms or weapons technology to a country whose sovereign bonds are excluded from its investment universe, which notably includes Burma. It said a preliminary review suggested there were currently no such companies in the fund’s portfolio. The Norwegian government will circulate a discussion paper on the ethical guidelines of the fund this spring as part of a broad public consultation process. An evaluation of the ethical guidelines will be submitted to the Storting, the Norwegian parliament in the spring of 2009.
Man Group, the London-based hedge fund manager, has launched Man Environmental Capital Opportunities, a private equity arm specialising in environmental investments. Nick Wood, a member of the management committee at Man Investments, said: “Man ECO will source and originate direct private capital investment funds based on environmental issues in various parts of the world. Investing in projects that benefit the environment is becoming more and more popular and we see great opportunities to benefit investors and our natural world together.” In December, 2007, Man said it raised €400m for its China Methane Recovery Fund, investing in the extraction of methane gas from coal mines in China’s Shanxi province to generate electricity and carbon credits.

NGOs are calling upon Barclays, UBS and investors including Fidelity and hedge fund RAB Capital to follow a decision by the Asian Development Bank to pull out of the controversial Phulbari coal project in Bangladesh. According to NGOs, work on the open cast mine will displace some 50,000 people.
South Africa’s Standard Bank Group has been awarded a specialist Sub Saharan African debt mandate subject to a socially responsible screening process by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a US development finance organisation backed by the US Government. OPIC has committed up to $100m in funding for the Standard Africa Development Fund, jointly run by Standard Asset Management in London and STANLIB Asset Management in Johannesburg. Kevin Colglazier, chief investment officer at Standard Asset Management, said, “Africa is the ultimate frontier, it does not have a sub prime problem and the economy as a whole, excluding Zimbabwe, is expected to grow by over 6% during 2008. We believe that this is an ideal time to invest as one gets access to the ground floor of what is potentially a very profitable nascent opportunity.”
Phaunos Timber Fund is to establish a joint venture with Aitchesse Limited the Scottish-based forestry specialist, to invest in Eastern Europe. Phaunos said it would potentially commit up to $150m to the new joint-venture, with investments beginning as early as the second quarter of 2008. Phaunos’ investments are managed by FourWinds Capital Management.
KPMG claims that six major industry sectors are in particular danger from climate change risks. In a report titled “Climate Changes Your Business” based on a review of 50 published studies addressing the business risks and economic impacts of climate change at sector

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