News from SIFs
November/December 2007
FIR (Forum pour l'Investissement Responsable) - France
French SIF Finance and Sustainability European Research Award
Eurosif is a supporter of this French SIF initiative which rewards research projects that contribute to the development of knowledge in the field of "Finance and Sustainability". The jury has already started deliberations for the three prizes (of 5000 euros each) and three research grants that will be distributed at the awards ceremony in Paris on January 21st, 2008 (invitations will be sent out shortly). These include: Best Master’s Thesis Award, Best PhD Thesis Award, Best Article published in a scientific magazine.
FFS (Forum per la Finanza Sostenibile) - Italy
FFS lobbies ISVAP for transparency regulation in the insurance sector
ISVAP, the Supervisory Authority for Private Insurance Undertakings, Authority is issuing regulation about information and disclosure concerning insurance products. Following the example of CONSOB, the financial markets Authority, ISVAP has also included a specific rule for insurance policies labelled as “ethical” or “socially responsible”. They now must provide a detailed explanation of what an “ethical” or “socially responsible” policy really means in terms of contents, process, insurance, etc. FFS welcomes this initiative, which continues in the direction suggested by Eurosif with the Transparency Guidelines for SRI Funds, transferred into the Saving Protection Act in 2005 in Italy.
http://www.finanzasostenibile.it/
UKSIF (UK Social Investment Forum) - United Kingdom
UKSIF announces plans for first ever National Ethical Investment Week in May 2008
The first ever National Ethical Investment Week will take place from Sunday 18 May to Saturday 24 May 2008. The aim of the Week is to grow the market for green and ethical investments. The Week will support UKSIF members and others in promoting green and ethical investments to all investors with sufficient investable wealth. UKSIF would like to thank the inaugural sponsors Henderson Global Investors, Norwich Union and Friends Provident and looks forward to working with all interested members on the Week. Following a tender process, UKSIF has appointed Lexis PR to provide consumer-focused PR support to the Week. Contact info@uksif.org.
UKSIF publishes report on Local Government Pension Schemes and responsible investment
‘Local Government: Responsible Pension’ assesses responsible investment leadership. It finds that only a small number of Schemes (most notably the Environment Agency PF) demonstrate leadership. The report is based on a self-assessment template developed by Mike Taylor of London Pension Fund Authority, with support from the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum and Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy.
Contact anne.desgagniers@uksif.org.
Responsible Investment Association Australasia
RIAA releases report on Responsible Investment in Australia & New Zealand
According to their report, investments that systematically take environmental, social, ethical or governance issues into account outgrew mainstream investing by more than double in the year to June 2007. The total funds under management now invested in specialist responsible investment managed portfolios, private portfolios managed by specialist advisers, community finance and green loans grew 43% during this period.
RIAA has followed the Eurosif approach in using Core and Broad categories to measure responsible investment.
