Sustainability Archives

Investors target food companies to urge encouragement of plant-based protein production

Forty institutional investors, including Coller Capital, three Swedish state pension funds, Aviva, Nordea and Robeco have launched an engagement with 16 multinational food companies highlighting the material risks posed by industrial animal production. The coalition, which together manages $1.25 trillion …

UK’s public pension funds boosted by new ESG investment guidance

Responsible investment advocates have welcomed the government’s Local Government Pension Scheme guidance which provides a less prescriptive framework for investing as part of the requirement for local authorities to prepare their own investment strategy statement.

The guidance is to enable …

ShareAction calls for institutional investors to do more to address UK poverty

Institutional investors must do more to reduce in-work poverty and improve the quality of work in the UK’s private sector, according to a report published by ShareAction. The report evaluates the potential of investor-led strategies to address inequality and protect

PRI launches guide for institutional investors to integrate ESG strategies

The United Nations-led PRI (Principles for Responsible Investment) has published a guide which it said is the most comprehensive description to date of what ESG (environmental, social and governance) -integrated analysis is, and which explains how it works in practice.…

US SEC seeks views on sustainability & governance reporting

The US Securities & Exchange Commission is consulting on whether the current business and financial disclosure requirements that form part of Regulation S-K continue to provide the information that investors need to make informed investment and voting decisions.

The SEC …

Sports Direct AGM turmoil looms

Besieged retailer Sports Direct has responded to further criticism of its governance practices. This time it is the poor standard of its board evaluation procedures which Manifest’s recent AGM report has flagged as a clear breach of the UK Governance …

RI guidance for DC pension schemes attracts widespread welcome

The UK’s Pension Regulator’s new code of practice for occupational trust-based defined-contribution (DC) pension schemes and the publication of six ‘how to’ guides to give comprehensive guidance to trustees has been warmly welcomed by a number of responsible investment groups.

Investors & companies “in the dark over value of the workforce”

Understanding the value of a company’s workforce is important for investors, and companies should improve their reporting on this and be able to link this reporting to their wider company strategy and business model, according to the Pensions and Lifetime …

Prominent ESG investor objects to US legislators’ plans to curb proxy advisers

Walden Asset Management has added its voice to those criticising the proposed Corporate Governance Reform and Transparency Act of 2016 (HR 5311) passed last month by the US House of Representatives’ Finance Services Committee.

In a letter to Jeb Hensarling …

Investors have role to play in tackling forced labour

Investors need to engage more effectively with companies on forced labour and ensure that firms are meeting reporting requirements according to the latest Investor Briefing by pressure group, ShareAction.

The briefing includes examples of shareholder engagement with companies as well …