Environmental
UK financial regulators are to set up a Climate Financial Risk Forum to “to share best practice and build intellectual capacity in this emerging field”. The he forum will involve private sector participants, technical experts and other relevant stakeholders and the aim will be to advance approaches for assessing, managing and responding to the financial risks from climate change. The bodies behind the move are the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority. It comes as the PRA has launched Transition in thinking: The impact of climate change on the UK banking sector.
Hugh O’Reilly, President and CEO of OPTrust, one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension plans, delivered a call for action to investors in a keynote address during a Climate Week NYC seminar today. The seminar, Accelerating the Path to Climate Action, was organized by MSCI in partnership with the UN supported Principles for Responsible Investment. “Whether we take action or not, climate change is already having profound impacts, and markets are responding accordingly,” said O’Reilly. “Integrating climate risk is not only necessary, but it is in the best interests of all our Plan members, both today and over the long term.”
More than 60% of the world’s biggest public pension funds have “little or no strategy” on climate change, according to the Asset Owners Disclosure Project (AODP), now part of campaign group ShareAction. It said that only a few public pension funds, mostly in Europe, were demonstrating “true leadership on climate change, demonstrating robust approaches to aligning their investments with the low-carbon transition”.
Social
Diversity in Portfolio Management, a report published by think tank New Financial, presents a gloomy state of play within an industry “dominated by white, middle class, straight men”. The report found: “Only 4% of UK fund assets are managed exclusively by women, compared to 85% run by men. We came across only 12 black portfolio managers based in London, and nearly two-thirds of the industry’s leaders went to private schools.” The report, based on interviews with 100 professionals from 40 firms, identifies barriers to diversity and proposes actions to improve the industry.
Global impact firm Palladium, which manages large-scale programs for the UK’s Department for International Development, has acquired the financial advisory firm Enclude from Triodos Ventures, fund managed by Netherlands-based Triodos Bank. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.h6. Governance
California State Treasurer John Chiang has called for an independent review into the ethical questions surrounding the appointment of CalPERS’ CEO Marcie Frost. It follows reporting by the Seeking Alpha blog that she misrepresented her educational background, which the fund has denied. Chiang, who sits on CalPERS’ board said he has a “favorable opinion” of Frost. “However, recent ethical questions are not so much focused on her work once on the job, but rather on how she got the job to begin with.”
Ethos, the Swiss pension-backed governance firm, has published an Engagement Paper that summarizes its five expectations regarding corporate tax responsibility of listed companies. It said that recent cases of aggressive tax optimization practices of certain companies mean that institutional investors “consider these practices to be major financial and reputational risks for companies and their shareholders”. It will send the paper to the chairmen of the boards of the 150 listed companies included in the engagement universe of the Ethos Engagement Pool Switzerland (EEP Switzerland).
Shareholders in Darden voted on a proposal introduced by Green Century Capital Management that would require the New York-listed restaurant chain to study the feasibility of phasing the routine use of medically important antibiotics out of its meat supply chain. The proposal received 40.2% of shareholder support. “Darden’s shareholders have spoken loud and clear,” said Jared Fernandez, shareholder advocate with Green Century.
Shareholders have voted to require American Outdoor Brands, the parent of gunmaker Smith & Wesson, to provide evidence it is working on gun safety and monitoring violence associated with its products. The resolution was filed by 11 members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, which the board resisted.
The Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge initiative has been launched at the United Nations headquarters in New York. It encourages financial institutions to implement tobacco-free finance policies and was developed by Tobacco Free Portfolios in collaboration with UN agencies and investors like AXA Group, BNP Paribas, AMP Capital and Natixis. The pledge has 90 founding signatories.
Shareholders have voted to require American Outdoor Brands, the parent of gunmaker Smith & Wesson, to provide evidence it is working on gun safety and monitoring violence associated with its products. The resolution was filed by 11 members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, which the board resisted.
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