If you’ve become sceptical about fund managers signing up to ESG-related organisations and initiatives (most notably the UN’s sustainable development goals), that’s understandable. However, our roundtable discussion changed my mind on this.
We’ve all heard fund managers say how they incorporate ESG throughout the whole investment process. The Church of England Pensions Board, which participated in our discussion, is deeply interested in how this is done.
It turns out that as well as looking at ESG scoring systems and proxy voting policies (if there are any), as part of this inquiry the Board considers if fund managers are members of collaborative engagement initiatives. Why? Because groups such as the Transition Pathway Initiative enable fund managers to substantiate ESG claims through publicly available assessments.
So, perhaps I’ll be a little less sceptical in future, now that I see the benefits of club membership!
Nick Fitzpatrick, Group Editor, Funds Europe
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