| 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 Drilling down on ESG risks in the mining sector
(Source: Responsible Investor) That minerals and metals are highly valuable commodities is common knowledge. But not many people are aware of the material and immaterial costs of the mining process. Everybody knows that gold and silver is used for jewellery, but less known is that much of the electronics for computers and mobile phones, bicycle materials, cars, cookware, and pipes are dependent on mining practices. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently announced a new project to promote responsible investment in the mining sector through enhanced due diligence. Protesters target Apple supplier Foxconn over worker deaths
(Source: Evening Standard, London) Protesters picketed the Hong Kong AGM of a supplier to Apple over a spate of suicides at its factories. Demonstrators accused Foxconn of failing in its business ethics, with 30 holding signs saying “Workers are not machines, they have self-esteem” outside the hotel function room where the firm's shareholders were meeting. Investor Survey Shows Asset Owners Seek Climate-Change Data
(Source: Bloomberg/BusinessWeek) Twice as many investors are asking stock and bond managers about their global-warming policies as two years earlier, a survey by the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change showed. Sixty percent of asset owners asked prospective managers of their funds about climate-change policy in 2009 compared with 30 percent in 2007, the group said today in a statement. Institutions surveyed include units of Aviva Plc, BNP Paribas, F&C Asset Management Plc and the pension fund for BT Group Plc. Bhopal trial: Eight convicted over India gas disaster (Video)
(Source: BBC News) A court in the Indian city of Bhopal has sentenced eight people to two years each in jail over a gas plant leak that killed thousands of people in 1984. The convictions are the first since the disaster at the Union Carbide plant - the world's worst industrial accident. The eight Indians, all former plant employees, were convicted of "death by negligence". One had already died - the others are expected to appeal. Sovereign Wealth Funds China wealth-fund official warns of tough year
(Source: MarketWatch) LOS ANGELES -- A senior official with China's massive sovereign-wealth fund said Tuesday that while 2009 was good for the nation's market investments, this year is proving to be tough, according to reports. In rare public comments, China Investment Corp.'s Executive Vice President Jesse Wang said recent corrections in Western markets had peeled off one-tenth of the fund's value UAE's ADIA ranked as world's largest sovereign wealth funds
(Source: Xinhaunet) The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been ranked as the largest sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in the world, with total assets under management of 627 billion U.S. dollars, a local business daily reported Sunday. Norway Says Sovereign Wealth Fund Won’t Move to Exclude Israel
(Source: Bloomberg/BusinessWeek) Norway’s sovereign wealth fund won’t exclude companies from Israel, which raided aid-laden ships bound for Gaza, from its portfolio because it doesn’t set ethical rules based on nationality, the Finance Ministry said. |
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US Public Sector Pension Funds States Shrink ‘Unaffordable’ Benefits to Bridge $1 Trillion Gap
(Source: Bloomberg/BusinessWeek) New Jersey and 20 other states are urging early retirements, cutting benefits and demanding employees contribute more in the face of what the Pew Center on the States says is a $1 trillion gap between available assets and what’s owed workers. Campaigns funded by firms politicians oversee
(Source: The Boston Globe) Three law firms that represent the state’s pension fund in securities litigation have become cash cows for the campaigns of the officials who oversee them. Two New York firms and one based in Boston account for $175,000 given in recent years to the campaigns of Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill and Attorney General Martha Coakley, a Globe review shows. Bill to push NC pension fund to dump Massey shares
(Source: Bloomberg/BusinessWeek) Some North Carolina legislators want to force state pension fund managers to dump investments in the operator of the West Virginia coal mine where 29 men died in an explosion two months ago. Supporters of a bill said Tuesday that Massey Energy Co. is a bad investment because of a poor safety record at the mine and the information that has been exposed since the April 5 blast. Watching the Watchers 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. |
Sustainable Endowments Institute