Eurosif responds to EU’s consultation on investor duty

On the 13th of November 2017, the European Commission launched a public consultation on institutional investors and asset managers' duties regarding sustainability. Its primary aim was to gather and analyse the necessary evidence to determine possible actions to improve the assessment and integration of sustainability factors in the relevant investment entities' decision-making process.

To read Eurosif's answers, please click here.

Eurosif's Executive Director, Flavia Micilotta, says: "Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) requires investors to understand how investee companies manage their environmental and social risks and impacts and develop long-term sustainable growth strategies for their business. Behind SRI is the notion that ESG factors are direct or indirect value drivers that are material to the long-term success and performance of a business, both in terms of risks and opportunities.

Because they represent long-term beneficiaries who have a natural interest in preserving the wealth in their investment portfolios, pension plan trustees tend to focus on longer-term issues. Within the financial arena, institutional and private asset owners determine capital allocation and are therefore crucial to encouraging both corporations and financial institutions to move towards more sustainable behaviour. Progress will require key decision-makers to abandon conventional approaches to investing, which have thus far been based to a large extent on chasing short-term gains."

As a long-standing advocate for SRI, Eurosif welcomes this consultation and fully supports the work of the European Commission in this respect to advance the integration of sustainability in financial markets.

Read the full response here.