| From across the nation and around the world, INSIGHTS-edge brings you news, commentary and research in key areas of interest regarding ESG, Sovereign Wealth Funds and US Public Sector Pension Funds. We watch the watchers...who are watching you. ESG / Sustainability BP removed from the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes
(Source: Dow Jones Indexes) The oil company BP plc. was removed from the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI), effective May 31, 2010. As a component of the DJSI World Index, BP was subject to index rules that allow for elimination from the DJSI following extraordinary events. No substitution was made to the DJSI World components. The DJSI World now has 315 components. Lonely workers and suicide: What can responsible companies do?
(Source: CSR Asia) The recent suicides at Foxconn’s manufacturing facilities in China were reported widely in the media (both inside and outside China), and there was no shortage of attempts to explain why workers took their lives. One explanatory theme is psychological; such as the feelings of loneliness that workers face in the intensely monotonous and restrictive environments that characterize man factories (not only in China). Focusing on the narrower theme of loneliness, one strand of thinking starting to emerge is that what makes isolation particularly unbearable for some workers is that within certain workplaces people feel that they are a burden to others. CSR: Global Recession or Not, Consumers Willing to Support Brands with Social Purpose
(Source: Just Means) CSR executives must be excited by key findings in the 3rd Annual Edelman goodpurposeTM Consumer Study released late in 2009. A total of 6,000 respondents from 10 countries were surveyed, and a whopping 83% said they would be willing to shift their consumption behaviors if "it can help make the world a better place to live.” Sovereign Wealth Funds Those Fickle Sovereign Wealth Funds
(Source: Project Syndicate) Two years ago, sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) were the bogeymen of world finance. Then came the global financial crisis, and worries about them seemed to vanish. Now that the crisis is abating, concerns about the SWFs and their behavior are returning. Norway's sovereign fund sees sustained volatility
(Source: Forexpros.com) Investors face years of market volatility as governments consolidate their mountains of debt taken on both before and in response to the financial crisis, says the head of Norway's sovereign wealth fund. Martin Skancke, director general of the Norwegian Ministry of Finance Asset Management Department and responsible for the country's sovereign wealth fund, said uncertainty may dominate but the fund's long-term time horizon gives it the ability to ride out the gut-churning drops and equally fast rises. Consider setting up supra-sovereign wealth fund, Muslim nations told
(Source: Business Times)
Muslim economies should consider setting up a supra-sovereign wealth fund, given the shifting in investment fund flows to the East, said Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah. The combined Muslim economies of Asia, Middle East, Central Asia and Africa (or MAMICA) are contributing significantly to global growth. |
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US Public Sector Pension Funds Calpers and risk: Together forever?
(Source: Fortune) Before clocking a $100 billion loss in early 2009, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, known as Calpers, had the swagger of a hedge fund and the certainty of a saint. Other pension funds followed its lead, loading up on leverage, investing in unrated CDOs, shoving money into high-priced private equity deals and barreling into commodities and real estate SEC to Restrict Political Donations After Pay-to-Play Scandals
(Source: Bloomberg/BusinessWeek) U.S. regulators are poised to restrict investment advisers from giving money to politicians to win pension business in response to abuses in an industry that oversees $2.4 trillion of public retirement funds A New Plan for Valuing Pensions
(Source: NY Times Blog) The board that writes accounting rules for states and cities has proposed a new approach for pension disclosures that falls far short of what some financial experts hoped, but which would still force many governments to highlight pension shortfalls they have played down Watching the Watchers  Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes
Published by Dow Jones & Company
Index Headquarters: Zurich, Switzerland
Dow Jones Headquarters: New York, NY
Established: Indexes were first made available September 8, 1999 KEY PARTNERS
SAM Group, STOXX Limited, Dow Jones Indexes OVERVIEW / MISSION
From DJ: “Launched in 1999, the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes are the first global indexes tracking the financial performance of the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide. Based on the cooperation of Dow Jones Indexes, STOXX Limited and SAM they provide asset managers with reliable and objective benchmarks to manage sustainability portfolios.” |
