More details have emerged about the Sokrates fund of former SAM chief Reto Ringger’s new Globalance sustainable bank. According to its fund fact sheet, the team has developed a model for evaluating sustainable investment themes and runs the fund using both quantitative and qualitative criteria. “Throughout the world today, there are more than 1,500 sustainable investment vehicles available to investors,” it says. The Luxembourg-registered SICAV has a relationship with Credit Suisse, which acts as paying agent, representative and custodian.
The National Association for Environmental Management, the Washington-based group, has said that improving the value and efficiency of environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting will require more collaboration between companies and researchers. It has published a report – “Driving ESG Reporting Progress through Dialogue” – which summarizes its ‘Measuring Corporate Sustainability’ conference which took place in May.
The “EuroCharity Yearbook 2010: The Future of Responsible Investing” will be released at the end of June 2011 and be presented in Nicosia on July 1 and Athens on July 5, 2001. Among a high-profile list of guest authors are Achim Steiner (UNEP), Paul Clements-Hunt (UNEPFI), James Gifford (UN PRI), Giuseppe van der Helm (Eurosif), Lisa Woll (SIF), Louise O’Halloran (RIAA) and Eugene Ellmen (SIO). Link
The United Nations Global Compact, the initiative for businesses seeking to align themselves with 10 principles of behaviour, says corporate progress on environmental and social issues is “tangible, but far from sufficient”, according the Global Compact’s 2010 annual review. It found that large and publicly traded companies perform better than small and medium-size enterprises.CRD Analytics, the provider of sustainability investment analytics, has formed an alliance with sustainability consulting firm MetaVu. The tie-up will link CRD’s SmartView 360 platform with MetaVu’s Return on Environment (RoE) Index.
ING’s US retirement services business is to offer the new ESG Managers Portfolios to participants in its ING-administered defined contribution retirement plans. Launched in 2010 by Pax World Management, and subadvised by Morningstar Associates, the ESG Managers Portfolios are a set of multi-manager asset allocation funds that integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. Announcement
The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry has issued a call to tender with the objective of developing “sector-specific guides on the corporate responsibility to respect human rights in three different sectors”. There is a one-year, €250,000 contract on offer. The deadline is July 29.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published a statistical review of bank earnings. “Bank Profitability: Financial Statements of Banks 2010” provides nationally aggregated financial statements of bank data for OECD member countries.
The International Integrated Reporting Committee has announced a first deadline of June 30 for companies looking to register their interest in joining its integrated reporting Pilot Programme. The IIRC is looking to bring together a diverse group of companies interested in leading the development of the project. Email
Fund manager Threadneedle Investments has published “ESG investing: The challenges of a growing market” – an overview for clients on environmental, social and governance investing. It points out that the global SRI market is a €7.6trn business and growing.
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