September 2006

UNEP-FI launched “Show Me the Money - Linking Environmental, Social and Governance Issues to Company Value”

The report examines the growing importance of sustainability criteria in the international finance sector and highlights the impact of environmental and social factors on enterprise value. The study focuses on the automotive, aviation, defence, media and food sectors. www.unepfi.org

Revised Equator Principles launched

A revised set of Equator Principles, the industry benchmark for determining, assessing and managing social and environmental risk in project financing, were launched on July 6. 33 global financial organisations agreed to implement them immediately and a further seven intend to do so shortly. www.equator-principles.com

Four Swedish AP funds jointly agree to tender for ethical and environmental analysis

Four of Sweden’s six buffer funds are jointly tendering for ethical and environmental analysis including advice regarding the monitoring of violations of international conventions, corporate analysis of ethical and environmental issues and advice and support via dialogue with companies. www.ap1.se

The Carbon Trust launches a new quarterly newsletter for institutional investors

For the first time, this draws together into one place all of the Carbon Trust’s activities on climate change that may be of interest to institutional investors – from the valuation implications of climate change and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), through to developments in low carbon technologies and renewables. www.carbontrust.co.uk

Responsible investment & pension funds in Hungary

On 4 July the Lord Mayor of London, opened a seminar at the Budapest Stock Exchange about the role of pension funds as responsible long-term investors in Hungary's economy. From nothing in the early 1990s, private pension funds in Hungary today hold assets worth over 8% of GDP. How these assets are invested have vital implications for Hungary’s economic growth, and – in turn - for policyholders’ future retirement income. As in other transitional countries in the region, the capital market has developed quickly over the past 15 years, and there is a growing need for institutional investors, the regulators and listed companies to consider what sort of responsibilities they have in promoting prudent corporate behaviour.

IFC Awards Grant to CRISIL, Standard & Poor’s, KLD, Trucost, and CLSA to Study Environmental and Social Data for Emerging Market Equity Investors

The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank, awarded a $500,000 grant to CRISIL, Standard & Poor’s, and KLD; and to Trucost and CLSA, the winners of its research competition “Capturing Value.” The competition aims to provide investors in emerging market equities with better research on companies’ environmental, social, and corporate governance performance and facilitate high-quality, long-term investment in emerging markets from pension funds and other investors worldwide. www.ifc.org

The latest Thomson Extel survey ranked global provider of “extra-financial” investment research

The survey highlights the fact that investors are increasingly using independent extra-financial research providers, and the growing importance of these factors in mainstream investment analysis. Increasingly, investors are recognizing that purely financial indicators can give only a partial picture of a company’s true risk profile and competitive position. www.extelsurvey.com/

Pension funds give boost to waste and water investments

Several major UK pension schemes holding shares in Impax, the only pure play environmental investment vehicle in the FTSE All Share index, have invested in two of the company’s funds bringing the total of funds under its management up to over £400m(€578m). Some £66m of subscriptions for C shares in the Impax Environmental Markets’ Investment Trust were made and another £19m was raised for the group’s Renewable Infrastructure Fund. www.impax.co.uk/

UK schemes quiz firms on women’s pay

UK – The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum has written to all companies in the FTSE 350 index enquiring about equal pay for women. The group representing UK pension funds with assets in total of £60bn (€89bn) wants to make this issue part of its engagement process withcompanies in which their members hold stock. www.lapfforum.org/

TIAA-CREF puts $100m into microfinance

US educational retirement savings group TIAA-CREF has earmarked $100m (€78.8m) to invest in microfinance initiatives through the new Global Microfinance Investment Program (GMIP), part of TIAA-CREF's new Social and Community Investing Department. www.tiaa-cref.org/

Marathon Club reports industry response to long term, long only investing consultation

The Marathon Club, a collaboration of investment organizations which aims to promote long-term, long-only (LTLO) investing, revealed the responses it has received to its industry-wide consultation paper on the construction and implementation of LTLO investment mandates. http://www.marathonclub.co.uk/

The PFS program’s last survey shows that online disclosure by Central and Eastern European (CEE) listed companies is increasing

The Partners for Financial Stability programpublished its eleventh semi-annual survey of online investor relations of the ten largest listed companies (by market capitalization) in eleven CEE countries. www.pfsprogram.org/capitalmarkets_research.php

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