| From across the nation and around the world, SustainabilityHQ™ (formerly 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 Is Independence the Bane of Boards?
(Source: CFO Magazine) A study by three University of Southern California professors finds that strongly independent boards at financial institutions had a negative impact on the companies' performance during the 2007-2008 economic meltdown. The controversial study, promoted by the American Accounting Association (AAA), also blames heightened institutional ownership for hurting results, and suggests that other attempts to strengthen boards — adding directors with financial expertise, creating risk committees, and separating the CEO and chairman functions — didn't help during the crisis. GlaxoSmithKline to Plead Guilty & Pay $750 Million to Resolve Criminal and Civil Liability Regarding Manufacturing Deficiencies at Puerto Rico Plant
(Source: US Department of Justice) Boston – SB Pharmco Puerto Rico Inc., a subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline, PLC (GSK), has agreed to plead guilty to charges relating to the manufacture and distribution of certain adulterated drugs made at GSK’s now-closed Cidra, Puerto Rico, manufacturing facility, the Justice Department announced today. The resolution includes a criminal fine and forfeiture totaling $150 million and a civil settlement under the False Claims Act and related state claims for $600 million. Report: ESG investing gaining momentum
(Source: Benefits Canada) Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing is the way of the future, according to a report by State Street Corporation. The report, Sustainable Investing: Positioning for Long-Term Success, states that issues such as world population growth and climate change are transforming sustainability into “a material issue for companies and investors alike.” BPA Hazard Spurs Industry Innovation
(Source: Green Century Capital/ As You Sow) New report shows food and beverage companies removing BPA from cans. Hain Celestial, H.J. Heinz, and ConAgra all receive “A” grades from the investor report as each has already begun using BPA-free can linings for some products and also has an estimated timeline to eliminate the chemical from all product packaging. General Mills, which receives a “B+”, has committed to eliminating BPA from its Muir Glen line of canned tomatoes but fails to acknowledge an internal timeline for implementing substitutes to BPA for the remainder of its product lines Sovereign Wealth Funds Are SWFs the New Endowment Model?
(Source: FavStocks.com) Some sort of shape is starting to take place, post-global crisis, as to how the biggest, longest-term investors are spending their money. If the endowment model was the one to follow for the past 20 years, the sovereign wealth fund model may be the one to follow for the next. Gulf markets need sovereign wealth fund boost
(Source: Business Recorder) Dubai - In the boom years before the global financial crisis, Gulf Arab sovereign wealth funds invested most of their petrodollars abroad. When markets fell, they propped up major Western firms and snapped up bargains. But what about regional markets, which still lack the liquidity and depth to lure international institutions? More Companies Meeting With Hedge Funds and Sovereign Wealth Funds, According to BNY Mellon Investor Relations Survey
(Source: PR NewsWire ) 93% of surveyed firms meet with hedge funds, 47% meet with SWFs; Nearly a quarter considering secondary stock listing in emerging markets - NEW YORK -- Companies worldwide are adapting their investor relations strategies to enhance their outreach to hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds, according to an annual survey conducted by BNY Mellon, the global leader in asset management and securities servicing. In another key finding, the study reports that 22% of respondents are contemplating a secondary stock listing to attract investors in high growth markets, most notably China and Hong Kong. |
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US Public Sector Pension Funds 'Trolling for favors’
(Source: NY Post) The city Comptroller's Office is playing fast and Liu-se with ethics. The political consultants who helped run Comptroller John Liu's campaign are now lobbying his office on behalf of money managers who want a slice of the city's $103 billion pension funds, which Liu oversees. Schemes (Pension Funds) still confused about sustainable funds
(Source: Global Pensions) Pension funds are struggling to define sustainability with many automatically lumping thematic funds, like clean technology, into sustainable portfolios, said RCM. According to RCM, sustainable environmental, social and governance (ESG) companies are selected on the relative strength of their ESG risk management. US trails in 2010 ranking of pension systems by world’s only global pension index of its kind
(Source: Mercer) The US retirement income system ranks tenth in the world’s only global pension index of its kind, the Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index, designed to objectively compare private and public sector pension systems of 14 countries across five continents1. This compares to a US ranking of 6th among 11 countries evaluated a year ago in the index. Watching the Watchers  Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Headquarters: Brussels, Belgium
Established: 1983
KEY PARTNERS
In energy and climate change: Clean Energy Group and Meridian Institute, among others. Involved with numerous networks. OVERVIEW / MISSION
The Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) is an independent think tank based in Brussels, Belgium. CEPS summarizes its activity: “CEPS serves as a leading forum for debate on EU affairs, but its most distinguishing feature lies in its strong in-house research capacity, complemented by an extensive network of partner institutes throughout the world.” CEPS research programs include energy, climate change and sustainable development, as well as financial markets and institutions, and regulatory policy. CEPS has consistently ranked well on a think tank survey conducted by James McGann of the University of Pennsylvania, placing 20th in the world and 9th among non-US institutions according to a report dated January 2010. Recent News Sweeps
Analysis: France may face "Thatcher moment" on EU budget
(Tuesday - October 26, 2010) - ... that Thatcher secured in 1984, is understandable, says Jorge Nunez Ferrer, a policy analyst at the Brussels-based Center for European Policy Studies. ... [more] Avoiding a currency war is a delicate, complex job
(Friday - October 15, 2010) - Another proposal, from Daniel Gros of the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels, is for the United States and its allies to refuse to sell their ... [more] |
