Responsible Investor launches research initiative on pension funds and ESG

Responsible Investor is conducting one of the biggest surveys and series of follow up interviews with pension funds globally to answer the question of why some pension funds see ESG integration as a clear part of their fiduciary duty and a necessary addition to investment strategy, while others believe the opposite.
The research project, titled simply ESG: Do You or Don’t You? is being sent to a large database of pension funds – firstly in Europe, and then in different regions.
The project is being put together in association with UBS Asset Management and the first draft of results from the initial survey will be presented at the RI Europe conference in London on June 5/6.
In order to create a valuable feedback mechanism for participating pension funds, the results and analysis of the project will be shared with respondents, highlighting the key drivers of ESG integration among some peers, as well as the barriers within others.
The aim of the project is to identify areas of emerging best practice in ESG integration, as well as improve understanding of why some pension funds do not consider it appropriate or feasible.
The first part of the project focusing on European pension funds will have three stages. First, distribution and processing of responses to the initial survey, which has been designed to be clear, quick and easy to respond to for pension funds.
The survey takes just 5-7 minutes to complete and the answers are ‘non-attributable’.The second stage is follow up calls with a weighted mix of respondents – ESG ‘doers’, ESG ‘adopters’ and ESG ’non-doers’ to get more information and clarity on issues raised in the survey, again on a non-attributable basis unless the pension fund gives their permission.
The third will be collation and feedback on the initial results at the RI Europe conference, followed by a more in-depth report.
The pension fund research project is being carried out by RI Research, part of Responsible-Investor.com.
Dennis Fritsch, Researcher for RI Research, who is leading the project, said: “No one really knows how many pension funds are actively taking ESG into account, or intend to. Our initial research indicates that many pension funds are quietly adapting ESG and we aim to produce a clearer picture via further research based on the answers to this survey.”
If you would like to be involved in promoting the survey to pension funds in Europe and other regions, contact Dennis by email or on +44 (0) 20 7709 2091

View the RI ESG: Do You or Don’t You? survey here: http://bit.ly/riresearch