News from SIFs
March/April 2007
FIR (Forum pour l'Investissement Responsable) – France
The French SIF and the Confederation of French Companies (Medef “Mouvement des enterprises de France”) held a symposium on non-financial reporting on April 4th, 2007 in Paris
This symposium – the first of its kind in Europe – was an opportunity to encourage exchanges among different actors (companies, investors, rating agencies, brokers) on their respective perception of non-financial reporting. It allowed for a better understanding of their points of view and their expectations, as well as created recommendations for improved consideration, by the markets, of non-financial reporting as a way to enhance the value of companies.
Robin Edme, President of Eurosif, spoke at this event
For more information please see the French SIF web site
Download the programme (in French)
The French SIF is preparing FAIRE 2007 – the Annual Forum for European Responsible Investment (5th edition)
The event will be held on June 11th & 12th 2007 at the Pavillon Kléber – Potel & Chabot in Paris. It will be four half days structured around four roundtables, each one being co-organised by a Broker and one or two Asset Managers.
To register, and for more information, download the FAIRE Save the Date or see the French SIF web site
FNG (Forum Nachhaltige Geldanlagen) – Germany
Workshop on labels for SRI products in Berlin
Labels for SRI Funds are back on the political agenda in Germany. The German SIF reacted to the ongoing inquiries and debates among politicians and organised a multistakeholder-workshop. 30 representatives of financial service providers, politics, environmental- and consumer-protection organisations attended the workshop. The event provided attendees with a general introduction on the effects and implementation procedures of different types of labels, as well as asset managers’ experiences with the Australian and Austrian Label.
For more information please see the German SIF web site (in German).
Event on the Principles for Responsible Investment
The German SIF, KfW-Bankengruppe and UNEP FI/VfU-Roundtable invited institutional investors and financial service providers to learn more about the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). The first two German signatories, Münchner Rück and KfW Bankengruppe, and ABN Amro presented their experiences with PRI. More than 60 participants from banks, investment companies, rating agencies and insurance companies attended.
For more information please see the German SIF web site (in German).
FFS (Forum per la Finanza Sostenibile) – Italy
Italian Pension Funds to use FFS Guidelines to become more transparent
The Italian SIF recently launched the Transparency Guidelines on social and environmental issues for Pension Funds. These Transparency Guidelines have been created in order to comply with the Law 252/05 issued by the government on December 5, 2005. This decree requires all complementary pension schemes to disclose in their annual reports and in correspondence sent to subscribers the extent to which SEE aspects are taken into consideration in the management of their funds, as well as in the exercise of their shareholder rights. The Italian SIF Guidelines are the output of a project carried on during 2006 in which all relevant actors of the Italian pension industry were involved. The Italian SIF hopes the pension funds will follow their guidelines, but will have to wait until the ‘reporting season’ in 2008 to see the results.
For more information please see the Italian SIF web site.
UKSIF (UK Social Investment Forum) - United Kingdom
UKSIF launches free online training for financial advisers and Guide to Going Green
‘Green and Ethical Investment: A Course for Financial Advisers’ is a free online training course that builds on UKSIF’s Responsible Investment Toolkit for Financial Advisers. The online course includes a test, on completion of which advisers receive a certificate and access to further information services about green and ethical investment. ‘The Adviser’s Guide to Going Green’ shows simple steps that advisers can take to green their business and reduce their carbon emissions. These services for financial advisers are sponsored by Friends Provident, Henderson Global Investors, Jupiter and Norwich Union and supported by DEFRA.
For more information please see the recently revamped UKSIF web site.
VBDO (Vereniging van Beleggers voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling) – Netherlands
VBDO conducts two quick scans on pension funds and institutional investors
In the Netherlands, 90% of Dutch employees are required to put their pension savings in the fund designated to them by their employer, leaving citizens with little freedom of choice concerning their retirement investment. The Dutch SIF has been working on pushing pension funds to disclose more about their investments for years. They have made progress recently when TV journalists were interested in making a documentary about the subject, and thus they were able to share their point of view with the general public. VBDO is trying to increase public awareness to show people that they are responsible for their own retirement money and how it is invested. This has become a focal point for VBDO.
They have recently carried out 2 surveys:
- on pension fund’s SRI policy (where 11 out of 20 pension funds mention the word sustainability),
- on pension fund implementation of SRI policy (where on 18% of resolutions put forward about sustainability issues received a positive vote).
For more information please see the VBDO web site.
SIO (Social Investment Organisation) – Canada
SRI assets grow to more than $500 billion in Canada
Growing institutional interest in socially responsible investment has propelled SRI assets in Canada to more than $500 billion, according to a study released by the Social Investment Organization.
