Newsletter

ESG / Sustainability

ESG a no-brainer
(Source: Investor Daily)
Despite the government dragging its feet, fund managers and super funds are hoping an awareness of ESG will become second nature. At this week's inaugural Environmental, Social and Governance Research Australia (ESG RA) Awards, chair Rob Fowler said he hoped the group wouldn't be around in five years.

Citi, Goldman Sachs win ESG awards
(Source: Investor Daily) Goldman Sachs JBWere and Citi Investment Research and Analysis were both crowned winners by industry association ESG Research Australia at a ceremony in Sydney yesterday.

Sovereign Wealth Funds

One in two sovereign funds invest in alternatives-report
(Source: Reuters)
Around one in two sovereign wealth funds invest in private equity, real estate and infrastructure assets to seek a diversified source of returns, a report showed on Wednesday. The report from Preqin, alternative assets research firm, also showed that assets managed by the world's sovereign wealth funds rose 9 percent to $3.51 trillion and more than a quarter of total SWF assets are held by funds in Abu Dhabi, Norway and China.

Research and Markets: 2010 Sovereign Wealth Fund Review of the $3.5 Trillion Assets Under Management
 (Source: Trading Markets.com) - Sovereign wealth funds currently control an aggregate $3.5tn in assets under management, up from $3.2tn in 2009. With a number of new funds being set up in the past year, their influence on the worldwide economy continues to grow.

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Public pension funds are ‘going to Vegas’
(Source: MSNBC) States and companies have started investing very differently when it comes to the billions of dollars they are safeguarding for workers’ retirement.  Companies are quietly and gradually moving their pension funds out of stocks. They want to reduce their investment risk and are buying more long-term bonds.

RPT-FDIC prodding pension funds to invest in failed banks-B'berg
(Source: Reuters) - U.S. regulators are encouraging public pension funds that control more than $2 trillion to inject capital directly into the banking system by buying failed lenders, Bloomberg said, citing people briefed on the matter.

Ex-official David Loglisci's guilty plea advances N.Y. state pension probe
(Source: Washington Post) NEW YORK -- A former New York state official pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony in connection with an alleged pay-to-play scheme involving the state's pension system, a move that legal experts said could bring the investigation closer to one of Wall Street's most prominent financiers, Steven Rattner.

Watching the Watchers

EUROSIF – European Social Investment Forum

Headquarters: Paris, France
Established: 2001

KEY PARTNERS
Vigeo/Avanzi and Morningstar Europe collaborate with Eurosif on the “SRI Funds Service.” Many partners for specific projects, including: Dutch Sustainability Research and OECD Watch.

OVERVIEW / MISSION
 “Eurosif, the European Social Investment Forum, was created in 2001 to serve as an umbrella association to cover socially responsible investment (SRI) issues at the European level.”

Eurosif notes that, "The approach to SRI has specific national characteristics linked to the particularities of the structure of financial markets and the legislative and cultural environments of each country. Eurosif takes these factors into account and addresses SRI issues with the European scope in mind.”

Forum members are pension funds, financial service providers, academic and research institutions, and NGOs. Members’ collective assets total more than 1 trillion Euros.

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.