Newsletter

ESG / Sustainability

New global sustainability ratings initiative set to launch
(Source: Responsible Investor)
Allen White, the co-founder of the Global Reporting Initiative, is among the principals behind a new initiative designed to get rid of “confusion and opacity” in sustainability performance ratings and create a generally accepted sustainability ratings framework.
The project, Global Initiative for Sustainability Ratings (GISR), is a swipe at the profusion of sustainability ratings providers and the “proliferation of tools and methods” which GISR says has created confusion for the market.

Sovereign Wealth Funds

Sheikh Hamed named head of Abu Dhabi sovereign fund
(Source: Reuters)
Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al-Nahayan has succeeded his late brother as managing director of sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), which holds hundreds of billions of dollars of assets. State news agency WAM said on Wednesday the announcement was made in a decree from the United Arab Emirates' president and ADIA chairman, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, also ruler of Abu Dhabi.

IFC, soverign wealth funds partner in $800 mln fund
(Source: Reuters)
The International Finance Corp said on Monday it would partner with sovereign wealth funds and pension funds from Azerbaijan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and South Korea in an $800 million fund that will invest in companies in Africa and elsewhere.

Treasury runs eye over sovereign wealth funds
(Source: Sydney Morning Herald – AU)
Australia’s Treasury has been looking into sovereign wealth funds that store resources income amassed during booms for use when times are bad. The funds are used by resource-rich nations including Norway, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati and East Timor. However, the examination does not mean the Australian government is planning to set up such a fund in the near future.

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US Public Sector Pension Funds

Conference coverage: US pension funds look at smarter approach to risk
(Source: GlobalPensions.com)
Public pension funds in the US have been said to be embracing risk, but scheme managers at the recent Pension Bridge Annual conference in San Francisco said they’re merely taking on riskier assets in a smarter way.

Analysis: Pension funds for teachers are short billions
(Source: USA Today)
The multibillion-dollar pension funds that promise to pay lifetime benefits to millions of the USA's retired teachers are more than $900 billion in the red, a new analysis shows. The shortfall could put taxpayers on the hook for nearly three times as much as the funds say they need to balance the books.

NY state pension fund attacks mining CEO
(Source: Crain’s New York Business)
New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is calling for the resignation of Don Blankenship, the chairman and chief executive of Massey Energy Co., the mining firm that lost 29 miners to a deadly underground explosion last week.  This isn't simply a case of New York politicians passing judgment on other areas of the country. It turns out that the New York State Common Retirement fund, which Mr. DiNapoli manages, owns more than 300,000 shares of Massey Energy worth more than $14 million.

U.S. States To Defer Pension Payments
(Source: EMII.com)
New Jersey, California and Connecticut are deferring payments to public-employee pension plans, The Wall Street Journal reports. New Jersey’s governor has proposed not making the state's entire $3 billion contribution to its pension funds due to its $11 billion budget deficit. Virginia is planning to pay only $1.5 billion of the $2.2 billion required pension contribution.

Watching the Watchers

Sustainable Endowments Institute

Headquarters: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Established: 2005
 
KEY PARTNERS
Energy Action, Foundation for Civic Leadership, Of Balance Design, United Nations Foundation

OVERVIEW / MISSION
The Sustainable Endowments Institute describes itself as “a nonprofit organization engaged in research and education to advance sustainability in campus operations and endowment practices.” 

The Institute’s work focuses on publishing the “College Sustainability Report Card” and the GreenReportCard.org Web site.

BACKGROUND
The Sustainable Endowments Institute is a project of the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. Other supporters of the “Report Card” are the Kendall Foundation, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Surdna Foundation, the V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation, and the Vervane Foundation.

Strategic Work:  “College Sustainability Report Card” recognizes universities and colleges committed to sustainability, looking at both campus operations and endowment investments. Research encompasses 300 U.S. and Canadian institutions with the largest endowments, using data from independent research plus surveys among administrators. GreenReportCard.com provides online sustainability profiles for those colleges and universities.

The Sustainable Endowments Institute also has two awards programs: Champions of Sustainability in Communities Awards and Sustainability Innovator Awards.

Governance & Accountability Institute is a monitoring, intelligence-gathering and knowledge management center operating at the intersections of powerful forces reshaping relationship between stockholders and stakeholders, and the public corporation. For more information, contact us at 516.248.2383 or info@ga-institute.com.