Storebrand named sustainable asset owner of the year in FT/IFC awards

Storebrand, the Norwegian finance group whose investments arm has NOK396bn (€50bn) in assets, has been named sustainable asset owner of the year in the annual Financial Times/IFC Sustainable Finance awards.
Storebrand beat four other shortlisted institutions in the category, Brazil’s PREVI, the Environment Agency, the London Pensions Fund Authority and the National Pension Service of South Korea. The Environment Agency won a special commendation in acknowledgment of its leading role in sustainable investment.
“It’s a great recognition,” said Christine Tørklep Meisingset, Head of Responsible Investment Research at Storebrand Kapitalforvaltning (Storebrand Investments). “It’s a great inspiration to continue. And it’s an important category.”

Storebrand was noted for its “group-wide policies on negative screening and engagement”. For example, ittabled a resolution at Statoil’s annual general meeting last month calling on the oil firm to divest from oil sands production in Canada.
The award for Sustainable Asset Manager went to private equity firm Aloe Group, with a special commendation for SAM (Sustainable Asset Management). Brazil’s Itau Unibanco of Brazil was named Sustainable Bank of the Year.
The awards attracted 187 entries from 161 institutions in 61 countries.
“This year we are also recognizing how sustainable finance, notably pension funds and private equity, supports small and medium enterprises, a key source of job creation and economic growth in most countries,” said Lars Thunell, chief executive of the IFC.
Full list of award winners