German insurers debate voluntary cluster bomb exclusion

Lack of agreement by industry players

Swiss private bank Sarasin excludes controversial weapons

Swiss move comes as UK investors reportedly impose “blanket ban”

RI Governance, March 1:  Danish pension fund divests mining firm over pollution

RI’s regular review of governance news

Vedanta Wal-Mart and Freeport most excluded companies in European investor sample: Novethic

15 most blacklisted companies listed by large investors.

Siemens faces investor call at Jan 24 AGM to quit US Chamber of Commerce over bribery issue

German company faces ‘reputation risk’ say investors as DoJ reviews Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

RI Governance & Engagement, Jan. 12: CalSTRS votes against entire Aberdeen AM board

RI’s regular review of governance and engagement developments

Investors should examine their exposure to companies linked to Western Sahara

Investors have responsibilities to ensure that they don’t sustain or aggravate conflict

AEGON makes major new RI statement for €413bn group assets

Insurer to make third party managers RI compliant.

Alberta fund dumps millions in tobacco stocks ahead of proposed lawsuit

Decision on legal action expected shortly as fund sells off holdings.

UK banking giant RBS cuts links to cluster bomb clients

Chief executive sends email response to campaigners

New Zealand Green Party continues attacks on ethical policy of NZ$19.2bn sovereign Super Fund

Fund accused of potential breach of government cluster bomb treaty commitment.

Swiss pension investor Ethos excludes commodities giant Glencore from its portfolios

Allegations include so-called ‘transfer pricing’ of tax receipts out of Africa.

UK’s £5bn church asset chief expects top News Corp. executives to be tried in court

Media giant “not a place where shareholders come first” says Church Commissioners’ Whittam Smith

Norwegian govt fund embroiled in Indonesia illegal logging allegations

Investor facing scrutiny from NGO

Norway’s KLP excludes three new companies over tobacco and environmental damage

Influential responsible investor now blacklists 63 firms

Japan nuclear crisis firm TEPCO removed from sustainability indices

Deleted over environmental management and health & safety failings

Australian Future Fund divests from defence companies

Exclusions amid treaty ratification and increased ESG focus

Co-op invests in West Bank-linked Veolia and Alstom despite misgivings

Investor takes “pragmatic” view of companies’ operations

Swedish AP funds call for Motorola to withdraw from West Bank

AP funds’ Ethical Council also in dialogue with France’s Veolia and Alstom

RI Governance & Engagement, April 15: Shell holds briefing for SRI investors

RI’s regular review of governance and engagement news

UK’s NEST awards ethical mandate to F&C Asset Management

New workplace scheme to screen human rights, environment and corporate governance

€5trn investor group presses global top 500 companies on greenhouse gases

Change in emphasis by Carbon Disclosure Project

Norwegian Government Fund excludes Chinese conglomerate over tobacco

US industrial group L-3 Communications readmitted

Backdrop to an investor campaign to regulate deadly arms trade

Major hurdles remain to clear before international agreement can be reached.

Investors and NGOs aim for biggest ever signatory campaign to back global arms trade treaty

Initiative ahead of UN discussions to kick off next month.

Norwegian Global Fund excludes Malaysian logging firm

Giant fund now excludes a total of 51 companies

Swiss pension fund issues bond mandate excluding arms, tobacco

CHF100m mandate also targets revenues from gambling, nuclear energy and genetically modified organisms

Boston Common divests Cisco Systems over human rights

Investor also expresses concerns over proxy voting

Canada’s Northwest & Ethical divests from Vedanta

Ethical investor becomes the latest institution to exit mining firm

Dutch MP calls for annual ‘name-and-shame’ after TV doc reveals controversial charity investments

Furore recalls Zembla pension fund exposé of 2007

NGO condemns Norwegian pension fund’s oil & gas investments in Burma

EarthRights International says fund has $4.7bn tied up in repressive regime

Norway’s KLP puts BP on watch list over Deepwater oil spill

Influential responsible investor initiates dialogue with oil giant

UK corporate governance leader Railpen signs up to UNPRI

€20bn railway fund the latest asset owner to sign up

CalPERS shifts $500m into internally-run environmental index strategy

Fund changes tack from exclusion of big polluters via external mandates

CalPERS in radical rethink of company engagement

Giant fund to relegate governance from initial screening process

Norwegian Govt Fund under fire over ‘reprehensible’ external managers’ performance fees

Finance ministry rejects watchdog’s criticism that fees should have been capped.

Dutch pension fund PNO excludes Wal-Mart over labour standards

US retailer blacklisted by €3bn industry-wide scheme

Shell to review Dow Jones Sustainability Index as bonus metric after being dumped from benchmark

Response to “subjective” decision by Dow Jones/SAM

RI Briefing, October 15: ACSI, US SIF, Toyota, UBS, Triodos, MSCI, Ceres, IFC, Novethic

RI’s regular round-up of responsible investing news

Hungary toxic spill is symptomatic of poor safety in the extractives sector

Investors and corporate peers need to push laggards towards best practice.

India Inc.’s increasing presence on the Burma “Dirty List”

The recent visit of the Burmese senior general to India underpins a growing corporate relationship.

Norwegian government fund excludes Israel construction firm

Giant fund the latest to exit Africa Israel Investments

APG sends warning to mining firm Vedanta on ESG issues

Giant pensions manager abstains at AGM vote over ESG concerns.

APG details 19 exclusions; plans ESG by asset class

Dutch giant releases Responsible Investing Report

France’s FRR reaches 85% integration for ESG research on investment

Assets run via an SRI process reach 13% as fund recovers on performance.

Exclusion doesn’t equal underperformance

The KLP fund shows good performance of indexed responsible investments

RI Briefing, June 9: Nordea, HESTA, NAPF, Network for Sustainable Financial Markets

RI’s regular round-up of the most important responsible investment news

Norway’s KLP excludes two over Western Sahara minerals

Phosphate imports targeted by €32.5bn insurer

Danish pension giant ATP excludes Nissan

Nissan Motor is excluded over Sudan links

Storebrand Bank names acting CEO, excludes 90 firms

Management change at Norwegian insurance and asset management group

PGGM excludes US and French companies over nuclear weapons and cluster bombs links

Dutch pension giant now excludes 33 firms in total.

Giant Norwegian fund’s coal investments under scrutiny

Swedish govt funds join Norway in ban of Israel’s Elbit Systems over West Bank barrier

Funds follow advice of Ethical Council in potentially controversial sell-off.

Swiss pension funds face cluster bomb investment ban

Parliamentary bills look to ratify Oslo Convention.

Giant Norway fund relaxes controversial exclusion policy

Norges Bank to favour initial lobbying engagement where possible.

Church of England funds sell millions in Vedanta shares boycott

Blacklisting follows failed engagement on human rights concerns.

Norwegian fund sells off euro1.8bn in tobacco shares after government ban

Ministry of finance approves tobacco manufacturer exclusion.

TIAA-CREF sells PetroChina and Sudan-linked companies in Darfur protest

US pension fund furthers dialogue with Malaysia’s Petronas.

Dutch pension funds facing total cluster bomb ban after MPs vote

Lower chamber passes vote to outlaw investments in related companies.

Sweden’s AP funds shift Grupo Ferrovial, PetroChina and Thales on international convention breaches

Corporate engagements ongoing with Wal-Mart, Toyota and Freeport-McMoRan