ESG Performance Factors are important to a growing number of asset owners and managers. The ESG framework – considering environmental and energy issues and impacts, the company positioning and actions on social/societal issues, and effective corporate governance (or not) – is a style…an approach…an expanding set of guidelines….a framework…depending on the analyst and investor and their embrace of ESG factors in investment decision-making. ESG is not about intangibles or the non-financials – these factors are very tangible to investors and stakeholders. Yes, the financials are critical for all investors – but corporate performance on ESG factors is now a proxy for the quality of corporate management for many investors. And quality of management (and board) directly impacts the financials – determining access to capital markets, cost of capital, attractiveness to investors, buy-sell-hold decisions, and more. In these Highlights we offer the results of our continuous global scanning for news, commentary and research on ESG issues – for investors, and for the information of corporate boards, senior executives and managers. These are selections from the hundreds of public reports and original content contained in our Sustainability HQ™ platforms. We invite your comments, questions and inquiries. The Team at G&A Institute – your Sustainability Headquarters. ESG / Sustainability Investors Controlling $1 Trillion in Assets Call on Russell 1000 Companies to Integrate Sustainability Into Business Models
(Source: 3BL Media) Citing global climate change, resource constraints and growing population pressures, more than two dozen major institutional investors, collectively managing $1 trillion in assets, have asked the Russell 1000 companies in a jointly-signed letter to actively embrace the “new reality” of so-called ESG risks – environmental, social and governance – in both their actions and required investor disclosures. Associated Profiles : Ceres, California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) 100 LEADING COMPANIES MEASURED ON ACTUAL VS. PERCEIVED SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS
(Source: CisionWire.com) Full-service brand consulting firm, Brandlogic, in partnership with CRD Analytics, a leading provider of sustainability investment analytics that powers the NASDAQ CRD Global Sustainability Index (QCRD), today released the inaugural version of the “Sustainability Leadership Report: Measuring Perception vs. Reality.” This report, Brandlogic’s latest contribution to ideas that drive performance, is a quantitative analysis of actual vs. perceived performance around environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors for 100 leading companies. Supported by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), the report is available for immediate download at www.brandlogic.com . Japan May Tap Geothermal Power to Offset Atomic Loss, BNEF Says
(Source: Bloomberg) Japan can increase the amount of electricity it generates using geothermal resources to offset power shortages as the government reconsiders its reliance on nuclear energy, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said. The country has the potential to be one of the “world’s biggest generators of geothermal power,” the renewable energy research arm of Bloomberg LP said in a report. Associated Profiles : Bloomberg New Energy Finance Commentary A Man For All Seasons
(Source: Richard Barr, Featured Commentator, Governance & Accountability Institute) In 1987I was fresh out of grad school in photography at the University of New Mexico. Turning 40, I was finally out of excuses to stay in school. I was searching for a right-livelihood profession, not in photography, and I proceeded to do a one-eighty. Having developed an interest in the stock market I was browsing the shelves of the business library at school when I stumbled upon a book titled Ethical Investing by Amy Domini and Peter Kinder. Sovereign Wealth Funds How Norway’s Conservative Party Plans Sovereign Wealth Fund Reallocation if Elected
(Source: The Foreigner) Feeling that continuing to invest in the welfare state and not in growth will limit the fund’s sustainability, Erna Solberg, the leader of the Conservative Party, says that their “agenda is to make sure the (oil) money is used for education, infrastructure, to finance tax cuts and for investment in research and development, especially in environmental areas where you need new technologies.” Since four percent of the fund is budgeted for state spending, she believes there is ample opportunity to invest in these initiatives. Associated Profiles : Norwegian Government Pension Fund (SPF) Swiss banks cast their eyes East
(Source: Zawya) The world of Wikileaks disclosures, austerity measures in debt-laden Europe and instability in the energy-rich Middle East now renders it more difficult for Swiss banks to practice the discretionary skills they are famed for. "Bank secrecy the way we dealt with it in the past is gone," Raymond Baer, the chairman of Julius Baer, which had 173 billion Swiss francs in assets under management at the end of April, tells Gulf Business. "Today, one has to be tax-compliant. The beauty for this part of the world (the Middle East) is that tax is not an issue anyway." Associated Profiles : Aabar Investments PJSC |
Make SustainabilityHQ™ your daily headquarters for important news, commentary and research results – your HQs for Sustainability and ESG knowledge management. The key capital market players focused on Sustainability and ESG (environmental management, social issues and effective corporate governance) are profiled with an abundance of relevant information. Updates are continuous. The third party organizations helping to shape corporate valuations and corporate reputations are profiled and news about these players is updated every day. Log in and check it out!
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China official says U.S. could pursue weak dollar policy
(Source: Reuters) China should guard against risks from "excessive" holdings of U.S. assets as Washington could pursue a policy to weaken the dollar, a senior currency regulator said in comments published on a website that briefly pushed the dollar lower. However, the comments by Guan Tao of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange were quickly removed from the website at his request. He told Reuters the comments had been made in private academic discussions and represented his personal view only. Associated Profiles : State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) Investment Company (China) Commentary Sovereign wealth funds: political they are, political they stay
(Source: qFinance) At the height of the last boom, with the coming crash already visible for those who had eyes to see, the activities of several sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) were getting US senators in particular into a tizzy. The funds were clearly on a hunt for yield and had massive fire power. They were buying up chunks of household-name European and US companies. Hysteria and protectionism were in the air. Associated Profiles : Abu Dhabi Investment Authority United States Pension Funds New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli Seeks to Make Ban on Placement Agents Permanent
(Source: Office of New York State Comptroller) New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli is seeking to make his ban on the involvement of placement agents, paid intermediaries and registered lobbyists in investments with the New York State Common Retirement Fund permanent. If enacted, it would be the first time such a ban on placement agents was enacted in the United States. New York became the first public pension fund in the nation to ban placement agents when Comptroller DiNapoli issued an Executive Order in April 2009. His proposed legislation would make the ban a permanent part of state law. Associated Profiles : New York State Common Retirement Fund Mayor Bloomberg Calls Liu Report on NYC Pensions 'Deeply Flawed'
(Source: AI-CIO) A study commissioned by New York City's Comptroller John C. Liu has predicted that the city's pension costs will spike in 2016 at roughly $8.3 billion, before heading into a gradual decline. The report by Liu, a potential 2013 mayoral candidate, contrasts with Mayor Mike Bloomberg's position that spiking pension costs are hindering the city's ability to balance its budget. A spokesman for Bloomberg told the Wall Street Journal that Liu's report is deeply flawed, assuming life-expectancy will not change for example. Associated Profiles : New York City Comptroller’s Office: Bureau of Asset Management CalSTRS votes on anti-spiking legislation
(Source: Global Pensions) The board of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) has voted to support proposed legislation to help curb pension spiking. The measure, known as SB 27, would change the types of compensation that are credited to the CalSTRS and CalPERS defined benefit programs in order to curtail the inappropriate inflation in retirement benefits, known as pension spiking. Associated Profiles : California State Teachers’ Retirement System Watching the Watchers  National Center for Food Safety and Technology
Headquarters: Summit-Argo, Illinois
Established: 1988
KEY PARTNERS
Illinois Institute of Technology, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, food industry partners OVERVIEW/MISSION
The National Center for Food Safety and Technology (NCFST) describes itself as “a unique research consortium composed of scientists from the Illinois Institute of Technology, US Food and Drug Administration, and the food industry.” NCFST is also home to IIT’s graduate programs for “food safety, food technology and food process engineering, offering master’s of science (MS) degrees, professional non-thesis degrees (MAS), and professional certificates in collaboration with the IIT’s Chemical and Biological Engineering and Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences departments.” News Scans Fresh Express marketing missteps 2.0
(Wednesday - May 25, 2011) Associated Profiles : National Center for Food Safety and Technology - The effectiveness of this new patent-pending technology has been validated by studies performed at the National Center for Food Safety and Technology – a recognized third-party research and testing facility. These ... IIT Opens Institute for Food Safety and Health
(Thursday - April 14, 2011) Associated Profiles : National Center for Food Safety and Technology - ... Ph.D. IFSH's principal operating center, the National Center for Food Safety and Technology (NCFST), also entered into a 5-year MOU with Australia's national science agency the Commonwealth ... [more] Newly formed Institute for Food Safety and Health Opens at IIT
(Monday - April 11, 2011) Associated Profiles : National Center for Food Safety and Technology - The institute, formerly the National Center for Food Safety and Technology, will streamline expanded capabilities and expertise in food research. On April 11, an inaugural launch event marked the National Center ... [more] |
