INDUSTRY NEWS
FSC and ACSI launched the ESG Reporting Guide for Australian Companies
An Australian first, the ESG Reporting Guide highlights the minimum information and reasonable data requirements that are needed to successfully price, analyse and manage environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment risks. ACSI and IFSA hope to facilitate a more open dialogue between asset owners and fund managers to ensure ESG requirements are fully understood. They will also encourage their members to incorporate ESG risk management into individual investment mandates, acknowledging that ESG requirements will differ between asset owners.
UniSuper’s CEO is named Fund Executive of the Year
UniSuper’s CEO, Terry McCredden has been awarded the 2011 Fund Executive of the Year Award. The award is designed to recognise outstanding leadership, innovation and achievement within the Australian superannuation industry. McCredden was selected for demonstrating exceptional leadership in the areas of advice, investment management, risk management, as well as fostering UniSuper’s people and culture. The Fund Executive of the Year Award is in its 10th year and is presented by the Fund Executives Association Limited (FEAL), in partnership with AMP Capital.
$6million awarded to Foresters Community Finance
Foresters Community Finance has been named as an appointed fund manager for the Australian Government’s Social Enterprise Development and Investment Fund (SEDIF). Officially launching the SEDIF program, Minister for Employment Participation, Kate Ellis, announced $6 million has been awarded to Foresters Community Finance with a further $6 million to be provided by Foresters’ investment partner Christian Super Fund. Foresters will use the allocated funding to create financial products and capacity improving initiatives for social enterprises nationwide. Social Investment Australia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Foresters, will be the trustee of the funds.
ACSI releases revised governance guidelines to monitor listed Australian companies
The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) has released the fifth edition of its governance guidelines ‘A Guide for Superannuation Trustees to monitor listed Australian companies‘. The ACSI Governance Guidelines are standards and practices that reinforce the accountability of boards and management to shareholders in publicly listed companies.
Local Government Super wins 2011 Australian business award for environmental sustainability
Local Government Super (LGS) has been recognised among Australia’s most progressive organisations, with the superannuation fund’s sustainable practices in its investment portfolio winning the Australian Business Award for Environmental Sustainability in the 2011 Awards. Now in its sixth year, the Australian Business Awards program recognises organisations that demonstrate the core values of business excellence, product excellence, corporate responsibility, sustainability and commercial success in their respective industries. A total of 103 recipients were honoured from the 928 organisations that participated in the 2011 Awards.
Shanghai Stock Exchange Sustainable Development Industry Index launched
To further enhance the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and the China Securities Index (CSI) family, as well as to provide new analysis tools for investors, the SSE Sustainable development industry Index and CSI Commodity Equity Index were launched on 22 August 2011. The new index covers three themes including: the low carbon economy (clean power generation, energy transfer and storage, clean production and consumption and water and waste treatment), the cyclic economy (companies whose production process is to embody saving resources and high efficiency utilisation) and education services & publishing.
To learn more please consult the SSE methodology document.
MSCI examines how the asset management industry integrates ESG
The sudden impact of recent large scale events, many of which are not just caused by financial mismanagement per se, have lead to billions in aggregate lost retirement savings. The aftershocks of these events are steadily eroding aspects of the old guard’s traditional analytical framework, and the potential risks of ESG factors are becoming more widely recognized. These developments have put more emphasis on the financial impact of ESG. Find out more how ESG factors are being increasingly integrated into investment processes by the asset management industry by reading MSCI’s latest ESG blog.
Watch a FTfm video interview with Remy Briand, Global Head of Index and ESG Research, at MSCI.
Hunter Hall’s Global Deep Green Trust going strong
Against an outgoing tide of negative share market returns Hunter Hall’s Global Deep Green Trust (GDG) advanced 5.2% in July 2011, outperforming its global share market benchmark by 9.5%. The major contributor was the US wireless technology company InterDigital which rose 67% in anticipation over a possible takeover. Another major contributor was UK biodegradable plastics company Symphony up 10% on the back of announcing increased sales by 21% and better profit results, as well as making good progress on its plan to turn scrap tyres into valuable products. Recent additions to the GDG portfolio include Philippines water and recycling utility Manila Water and Spanish steel production efficiency specialist Danieli.
Hunter Hall has also launched a mobile website and now provides monthly investor updates by video.
SEC Action Validates Investor concerns about fraccing
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is pressing oil and gas companies operating in the United States to provide increased disclosure on the financial risks associated with the environmental impacts of their fracturing operations. This action by the SEC comes after two years of investor pressure in the form of resolutions by members of the Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN) and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR).
UCA Funds Management runs for a cause
At the Run Melbourne fun run in July 2011, UCA Funds Management staff and family members ran in support of newly acquired client Cerebral Palsy Education Centre (CPEC), raising valuable funds for them in the process. CPEC became a client of UCA Funds Management when they became the beneficiary of a $1000 prize awarded to Goldman Sachs Executive Director, Strategy and Investment Research, Hamish Tadgell, at the ESG Research Australia Awards earlier this year. Based in the Melbourne suburb of Mt Waverley, the Cerebral Palsy Education Centre is recognised around the world for its specialised education programs for babies and children with cerebral palsy and like disabilities. UCA Funds Management’s latest newsletter contains an interview with CPEC CEO, Mr Garry Prigg.
New UN PRI signatories in Australia & New Zealand
Organisations in the region who have recently signed the UN backed Principles for Responsible Investment, which now has 940 signatories representing over $25 trillion USD in assets, include:
- Platypus Asset Management Pty Ltd, Australia
- Taurus Funds Management Pty Limited, Australia
- SAS Trustee Corporation, Australia
NEWS FROM RIAA
A warm welcome to our new RIAA members
RIAA welcomes the organisations and individuals who have joined since our last newsletter. Read more about RIAA’s programs or the benefits of membership or to receive more information, please email us at info@responsibleinvestment.org.
- Northward Capital, asset manager
RIAA and RI Academy bolster team capacity
We are thrilled to welcome Kate Bell and Claudia Guinness to our growing team.
Kate comes to us after ten years working as an actress, presenter and public speaker in film and television, both in Australia and overseas. She is an Ambassador for child rights organisation, PLAN Australia, as well as the Global Poverty Project. She has a degree in communications (journalism) and most recently, she spent 6 months in the offices of the NSW Dept of Premier and Cabinet where she examined the impact of Coal Seam Gas in rural communities. She is in charge of Special Projects at RIAA.
Claudia comes from a background of human rights and international development. She has a master’s degree in human rights and has worked in education and policy development with non-government organisations in Australia, India, and Uganda. She is the E-Marketing Co-ordinator for the RI Academy.
Kate can be reached on info@responsibleinvestment.org and Claudia can be reached on enquiries@riacademy.org.
2nd European roadshow for the RI Academy
Louise O’Halloran and and Greg Chipman will be in Paris (September 14 – 17) and London (September 19 – 23), demonstrating the Responsible Investment Academy to international financial institutions as part of a second global roadshow. For more information about this roadshow please contact Claudia Guinness on enquiries@riacademy.org.
The RI Academy is a global export initiative and has been two years in the making. It operates as an interactive, e-learning “university” and offers a learning pathway specifically designed for financial services and other professionals needing to understand how ESG issues are impacting:
- Financial modelling
- Best practice investment decision-making
- The proper discharge of fiduciary duties
- Company performance and shareholder value
- Transparency, disclosure and reporting
- The deployment of investment capital
To learn more please go to www.riacademy.org, view our e-brochure, or send an email to enquiries@riacademy.org.
AGM and 2011 Benchmark Report launch
Save the date for the RIAA Annual General Meeting and 2011 Benchmark Report launch to be held on Monday 5 December in Sydney.
We will be sending out invitations and more information on the event shortly.
CAER are currently gathering the data and putting together the report with RIAA. If you have not already been able to answer their email survey please do so as soon as possible in order to be able to contribute to this essential piece of research.
To find out more about sponsorship opportunities please contact Sarah Clawson on +61 2 8228 8100 or sarahc@responsibleinvestment.org.
See last years’ Responsible Investment Benchmark Report 2010 for further information.
RI LIBRARY
Australian property companies leading the world in environmental performance
At the request of a global consortium of institutional investors, the world’s largest property companies have disclosed detailed data on the environmental performance of their funds. The Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark report shows that the reporting on environmental metrics has improved substantially, with Australian companies leading the world. Between them, the responding property companies, which together represent a substantial proportion of the Australian commercial sector, have reduced energy consumption in 2010 by almost three percent and water consumption by nearly five percent. In Australia, VFMC, AustralianSuper and Local Government Super (LGS) are among the driving forces behind the initiative.
Sustainalytics analyses what the Ruggie principles mean for responsible investors
In June 2011, John Ruggie, UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, presented his Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Building on his ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework, the Principles provide, among others, practical recommendations on how companies and investors can effectively address the issues related to human rights; thus, better mitigating risks associated with failure to do so. In Raising the Bar on Human Rights: What the Ruggie Principles Mean for Responsible Investors, Sustainalytics provides a background on the Principles and analyzes how their adoption will ultimately benefit responsible investors. Read the full report.
RCM white paper shows ESG portfolios outperform
The results in RCM’s study, Sustainability: opportunity or opportunity cost?, show there is a probability of outperformance of ESG portfolios over the longer term. Investors could have added 1.6 per cent a year over just less than five years to their investment returns by allocating to portfolios that invest in companies with above-average ESG ratings. For example, the Best-in-Class portfolios outperformed the benchmark in all regions with the Global portfolio outperforming by 1.6%. Europe showed outperformance of 1.6% and the US Best-in-Class portfolio outperformed by 2%.
Report links sustainability and shareholder value for mining companies
A recent study by Sustainalytics finds strong links between sustainability performance and shareholder value for companies in the mining sector. Sustainability and Materiality in the Natural Resource Sector: Mining looks at whether environmental and social practices impact competitiveness for companies within the mining sector. The study finds that effective management in the following four key areas of sustainability was positively linked to shareholder value: Society and Community, Employee Relations, Environmental Operations & Climate Change.
New book to help navigate RI
Dilemmas in Responsible Investment, by Celine Louche and Steve Lydenberg, examines the problems responsible investment practitioners face daily. It emphasises the importance of asking the right questions as well as getting the right answers; and the importance of process as well as product. The authors pay attention to the diversity of opinion and variety of approaches available. They also raise fundamental questions about the very purpose of investment and the responsibilities of investors, both economic and societal.
And some food for thought…
“Every good movement passes through five stages, indifference, ridicule, abuse, repression, and respect.” – Mahatma Gandhi
UPCOMING EVENTS
7 – 9 September 2011, Hobart, Tasmania
ASI 2011 Investing with 20/20 vision, AIST’s premier investment conference
9 September 2011, Hong Kong
The Future of Fish in Asia: Issues for Responsible Investors
If you cannot attend in person, please contact michelle@responsibleresearch.com to learn how to join one of the webinars on this topic begin held on 20 & 21 September.
14 September 2011, Global & on-line
Carbon Disclosure Project Global Forum: it will be broadcast live on 14 September 2011 through The Guardian and CDP websites.
14 September 2011, Paris, France
EIRIS event: Active Ownership and Stewardship for the Longterm
15 – 16 September 2011, Paris, France
15 – 16 September 2011, Tokyo, Japan
26 – 28 September 2011, Stockholm, Sweden
28 – 29 September 2011, Hong Kong
ASrIA Sustainable Finance in Asia 10yr Anniversary Conference , in partnership with ASFA Asia Pacific Pensions conference held in Hong Kong on 27 September.This two-day conference, hosted by the Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia (ASrIA), offers influential industry players from around the globe an opportunity to engage in thought-provoking discussions, debates and analyses around the theme of Scaling Up Sustainable Finance in Asia, identifying areas of focus for the industry over the next decade, as well as explaining how investors and financiers can best position themselves to maximize returns over the long-term.
2-5 October 2 011, New Orleans, LA, USA
The annual SRI in the Rockies Conference The Future of Investing
4 5 October 2011, London, UK
Enhanced ESG Analysis Conference
4 – 5 October 2011, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
13 – 14 October 2011, Melbourne, Australia
Climate Change Adaptation National Congress – 3 Pillars Network presents the Climate Change Adaptation National Congress in partnership with NCCARF & CSIRO Climate Adaptation Flagship & Net Balance. This 2 day interactive forum exploring the policy, strategies and business models needed to enable a climate resilient future for Australia. Keynote speakers include Rear Admiral D. Titley Oceanographer and Navigator of the US Navy and Dr Graeme Pearman, Monash University. The Congress is intended for organisations at all stages of adaptation planning. Using a participative process, sessions are designed to engage the collective expertise of all attendees – drawing on Australian and International experts across a range of disciplines to help bridge knowledge gaps and inform new ideas.
18 October 2011, Perth, Australia and 19 October 2011, Adelaide, Australia
6th Annual Givewell Nonprofit Forum
19 – 20 October 2011, Washington DC, USA
UNEP FI Global Roundtable: Sustained Stability in the Next Economy
25 October 2011, Sydney, Australia
Finsia Financial Services Conference
9 – 11 November 2011, Brisbane, Australia
ASFAs National Conference and Super Expo
10 – 11 November 2011, London, UK
5 December 2011, Sydney, Australia
- RIAA AGM (for members only)
- RIAA Benchmark Report Launch
6 December 2011, New York, NY, USA
