ESG Newsletter

Established in 2004, the Fonds de Compensation ("FDC") is a public pension fund based in Luxembourg. The FDC had 22.18 billion euros of assets under management as of December 31 2019.

The FDC considers ESG issues throughout its investment process. As part of its Responsible Investment Policy, the FDC elected to implement a screening criteria around the UN Global Compact for all of its portfolios. Furthermore, the FDC has allocated 100 million euros to a Green Bond Portfolio and 200 million euros to strategies contributing to the SDGs. Finally, its Property assets are required to be certified by BREEAM.

Responsible Investment Policy (Available in French only)

Exclusion List (Available in French only)

Established in 1987, the National Pension Service ("NPS") is a public pension fund seeking to enhance social stability and welfare in South Korea. As at June 30 2020, NPS was the third largest pension fund in the world with KRW 752 trillion (USD 633 billion) of assets under management.

As part of its Investment Principles, NPS seeks to fulfill the fiduciary duty of managing the Fund while considering ESG factors, among others to improve investment sustainability. As such, NPS integrates ESG issues in its listed equity strategies and when selecting, appointing and monitoring external managers. 

Sustainability Report 2019

UN PRI Report 2019

AustralianSuper is the largest Superannuation and Pension Fund in Australia. As at December 31 2019, AustralianSuper managed the retirement assets of 1 in 10 Australians and had AUD186.5 billion of assets under management (US$ 126 billion).

As part of its engagement to the UN PRI, AustralianSuper has implemented a framework resting on these three pillars: ESG Integration, Active Ownership and Member Values. With regards to Climate Change, AustralianSuper is a member of Climate Action 100+ and supports the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures. As such, the organization has released a report aligned with the TCFD reporting framework addressing its Governance Structure and its risk management procedures with regards to Transition and Physical climate-related risks.

ESG and Stewardship Policy

Climate Change Report

Annual Report 2019

AP4 is one of five funds that act as a buffer in Sweden's national pension system. The Pension System was created in 1960, but it was not until 2001 that the current AP fund structure was established, allowing the AP funds to diversify their strategies. One of the key investment rules, set out by the Ministry of Finance, is to consider environmental and ethical matters without compromising the objective of attaining high returns. As of June 30 2020, AP4 had SEK 403.2 billion of assets under management (US$ 46.4 billion).

Through sustainable investments and active ownership, AP4 is able to create sustainable value for its trustees. ESG issues are considered in both its internally and externally managed portfolios. Further, AP1, AP2, AP3 and AP4 collaborate through the Ethical Council to lead engagement with investee companies across issues linked to the Sustainable Development Goals. Finally, AP4 is active in many collaborative initiatives on responsible investing. For example, they joined several of their peers to engage with the Brazilian Embassy reacting to a legislative proposal over Deforestation concerns in 2020.

Annual Report 2019

The Seattle City Employees' Retirement System ("SCERS") was established in 1929 to provide pension benefits to city of Seattle employees. With approximately 12,000 active employee members and 6,800 retired employee members (or their beneficiaries) who participate in the plan, SCERS had 2.77 billion of assets under management as at March 31, 2020.

In 2013, when SCERS adopted their ESG policy, they recognized that ESG issues have an impact on the performance of companies and that such consideration is compatible with their fiduciary duty. Consequently, SCERS adopted a Positive Action based on Shareholder Advocacy, Sustainability Investments and Integrating Climate Risk into the Investment Process. Finally, SCERS engages collaboratively with its peers through its membership to Climate Action 100+ and Ceres.

ESG Policy

ESG Quarterly Update

Founded in 1908, Folksam is one of the biggest insurance and pension providers in Sweden. As at December 31, 2019, Folksam had US$ 47,5 billion of assets under management.

As part of their responsible investment strategy, Folksam has implemented a policy covering all of its assets with regards to ESG issues. As such, the firm excludes tobacco, commercial gambling, controversial weapons, oil sands and coal. Moreover, Folksam engages with portfolio companies on a regular basis over climate change, environmental issues, human rights and corruption to encourage firms to take responsibility for their activities.

Sustainability Report 2019 (Available in Swedish only)

TCFD Aligned Climate Report 2019 (Available in Swedish only)

UN PRI Transparency Report 2019

Fondaction was created in 1996 by the Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux (Confederation of National Labour Unions). As of May 31 2020, Fondaction had CA$ 2.26 billion of assets under management. 

Fondaction has been considering the environmental and social externalities of their investments since they started operations, as such they became signatories to the PRI in 2011. Furthermore, as part of their climate strategy, Fondaction has implemented a negative screening criteria based on the ownership of fossil fuel reserves and has succeeded in reducing by half the carbon footprint of its investments from 2015 to 2018. Finally, the organization has launched innovative thematic funds seeking to invest in companies involved in the rehabilitation of soils, climate solutions, and sustainable agriculture in emerging countries. 

Sustainability Report 2016-2018 (available in French only)

Founded in 1767, Storebrand offers pension, savings, insurance and banking products. With NOK 633 billion (US$ 70 billion) of assets under management as of December 31 2019, Storebrand is Norway's largest private asset manager.

Storebrand first appointed a Sustainable Investment team in the mid 1990s to develop the firm's approach to negative exclusions. Today, the firm implements a screening criteria to all its funds around environmental practices, corruption, human rights, coal, oil sands, controversial weapons, cannabis and unsustainable palm oil. Furthermore, Storebrand developed a scoring methodology for companies that enables them to assess both ESG risks and contribution to the SDGs in a consistent manner.

Integrated Annual Report 2019

Sustainable Investment Policy

Policy on Deforestation

Exclusion List Q1 2020

The British Columbia Investment Management Corporation ("BCI") provides investment management services to 11 pension plans, government bodies, public trusts and sinking & government operating funds based in British Columbia, Canada. The investment manager had CA$ 153.4 billion of assets under management as at March 31, 2019.

BCI is an organization that believes that the consideration of ESG issues can improve the financial outcomes of its investments. Last week, BCI released its new ESG strategy based on four pillars:

• Integrate – Considering ESG issues in all investment decisions.
• Influence – Using engagements and advocacy to address issues such as Climate Change,  Water Management, Data & Privacy, Human Capital Management and Diversity & Inclusion.
• Invest – in ESG-themed strategies.
• Insight – Fostering an ESG culture across investment staff to stay ahead of emerging ESG trends.

Finally, BCI established with APG, AustralianSuper and PGGM the Sustainable Development Investments Asset Owner Platform (SDI AOP), an artificial-intelligence driven platform to enable investors assess companies on their contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

BCI ESG Strategy

BCI ESG Annual Report – 2019

The Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA) was introduced to administer a pension trust fund providing defined retirement and death benefits to eligible Los Angeles County employees. As at June 30, 2019, LACER had US$ 58.2 billion of assets under management.

As an UN PRI signatory, LACERA integrates ESG factors into the investment analysis that might impact the risk/return profile of their investments. Additionally, ESG is integrated in the selection and monitoring of external assets managers as one of 5 core components. Finally, LACERA collaborates with its peers to push for better practice regarding board diversity in Californian companies, climate resilience and sustainability reporting. 

Investment Policy Statement

Corporate Governance Policy

Corporate Governance and Stewardship Update 2019