Communication

Eurosif January 2013 Newsletter

04 January 2013

Eurosif January 2013 Newsletter

Happy New Year to all our Member Affiliates and followers!
In this issue:Call for interest: sponsorship opportunity for new research - Transparency Code V. 3-0 - Meeting with Commissioner Barnier - CLEAR Info project - Call for action: short survey

Eurosif Update

New European SRI transparency code V- 3.0 to go soon live Eurosif will be launching a new version of the European SRI transparency Code early February. The Code is a benchmark for transparency of European SRI funds and the release of the 3rd version of the code is a significant step towards improving access to information for retail investors. Interested parties should contact contact@eurosif.org for more details. Eurosif participates in Clear Info project on environmental data CLEAR Info is an EU funded project which will pilot the integration of parent company level information on business performance and environmental compliance.  It aims to enable quick and easy analysis of parent company level environmental risk, compliance, and business performance. The project is led by the Environment Agency  for England and Wales and Eurosif is one of the partners involved in the project.  Learn more here. Back to top

Eurosif Policy

Eurosif meets Commissioner Barnier on Non-Financial Reporting.
Eurosif, together with three other European platforms (ETUC, BEUC and ECCJ), met Commissioner Barnier from DG MARKT on November 8th. The goal of the meeting was to reiterate our support for an ambitious reform to Non-Financial Reporting (NFR) by EU companies that would ensure the relevance, the materiality and the consistency of NFR by large companies.
Upcoming Policy Event on Non-Financial Reporting in Brussels. On 5 March, 2013, Eurosif, together with ACCA and AVIVA, will co-host a Brussels-based policy event around NFR under the patronage of MEPs Howitt and Baldassarre. Due to limited space and high demand this event will be limited to Member Affiliates only and on a strictly first-come - first-served basis. More details will be sent shortly to Eurosif Member Affiliates.Eurosif responds to call for input by MEP Richard Howitt.Eurosif has provided input to the upcoming EP resolution in response to the Commission’s CSR Communication from October 2011. A response letter was sent by Eurosif on 10 October to Richard Howitt who issued his draft report on CSR on October 26. The report makes an explicit reference linking socially responsible investment to disclosure.
For more information on key EU developments Eurosif is focusing on refer to the latest edition of the EU Insider, available exclusively for our Member Affiliates.

 

 

Eurosif Research

Eurosif is providing users of company non-financial information the opportunity to influence  the  future  of  non-financial  reporting by European companies with a few clicks. The results of this survey will be presented at an high level event on non-financial reporting organised by Eurosif, ACCA and AVIVA, to be held in March 2013 in Brussels. The event is under the joint patronage of MEPs Baldassare and Howitt, and will feature top level European Commission participants and other policy makers. Take action now by responding to the survey.
Call for interest: sponsorship opportunity for new research Eurosif is looking for two sponsors to fund its new research “European perspectives on ESG Investing”. The new study is to be published last spring 2013 and will offer a unique insight into how ESG practices are combined, how strategies are implemented, as well as a range of additional quantitative and qualitative information on how Europe’s investment industry incorporates ESG considerations. Interested parties should contact francois@eurosif.org.

SIF News

FFS The UNEP-FI Principles for Sustainable Insurance were presented in Italy on December 4th during an event organized and hosted by ANIA – the Italian Insurance Company Association - in association with the Italian SIF. Amongst key speakers were Butch Bacani (Programme Leader UNEP-FI) and the representatives of PSI signatories, AXA, MPS and RSA Insurance Group. See details here. VDBO VBDO launched it’s Responsible Supply Chain Benchmark 2012. This study among 40 Dutch publicly listed companies provides a clear picture of the companies that do well in the field of supply chain management and provide an indication of the position and opportunities.

UKSIF
UKSIF has launched its new website with dedicated policy, news and resources sections and announced that Chief Executive Penny Shepherd will step down in 2013. UKSIF will advertise for a new CEO in January and Penny will remain in post until her successor is appointed and oriented.
FIR The French government has recently announced that it will support the creation of an SRI label for the French market. FIR is interested in participating in the development of this label. For this purpose FIR will launch a working group with some other organisations to further discuss SRI definition.

Spainsif On November 12th, Spainsif organized together with UNED and CCOO, the event entitled “A comparative analysis of social, environmental and governance research agencies". More than 50 participants attended, all related to Socially Responsible Investing. In addition, on December the 12th, Spainsif organized another event along with AENOR. In this occasion he UNE 165001 label on SRI  was presented in Spain. More information here.

Member Affiliate News

Shareholders Engagement 2012: ''Dialogue with companies''. Etica Sgr has, since its founding, been a pioneer in Italy of shareholder activism: a type of financial democracy that calls upon shareholders -be they large or small- to make their voices heard and exercise their right to vote. More information here.

ECPI has been confirmed as index provider by FONDAPI,the Italian pension fund for employees of small/mid-sized companies. ECPI has developed a brand new suite of sustainable benchmarks, from an equity ESG best-in-class index to an innovative government bond index that uses ECPI governance risk evaluation for countries' selection. UBS has joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). RSPO promotes growth and use of sustainable oil palm products through credible global standards. As part of RSPO's 'Banks & Investors' membership category, UBS actively promotes RSPO in business relationships in the palm oil sector.  For additional information, please contact Liselotte Arni  Head of Environmental and Social Risk. AXA IM launched an ongoing multi-year pilot effort to systematically embed ESG factors into its investment and active stewardship practices which included the development of a scoring process for key ESG metrics. In this white paper, AXA IM provides some initial findings as to how ESG can add value for long-term investors. Microfinance investment manager BlueOrchard Finance S.A. has published its Social Performance Report 2012 entitled Enacting common standards. This publication containing topical articles, case studies and interviews with microfinance experts sheds light on the recent progress in social performance management both at BlueOrchard and within the microfinance industry. It can be accessed here. EIRIS launches ESG service for emerging markets which enables investors to screen, monitor compliance and manage risk across a broad universe of 800 companies – or “drill down” to look at ESG risk factors at the largest 300. The service screens tracks compliance with international conventions and involvement in controversial businesses.Further analysis focuses on the largest 300 firms’ ESG risk factors. More here. FTSE, NAREIT and US Green Building Council Develop the First Investable Green Property Indexes.  The indexes are designed for institutional and retail investors and will be based on the FTSE NAREIT Index Series, using green data (LEED & Energy Star ratings) from USGBC - press release. Sustainalytics releases Report on the Regulation of Conflict Minerals. Sustainalytics' latest report Regulating Conflict Minerals: Unpacking Section 1502 of Dodd-Frank explores the implications of the recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ruling requiring companies to investigate and disclose their use of conflict minerals. For more information contact us here.

36 initiatives representing 600 organizations join Enterprise 2020 in Spain. Forética has published the results of the second call for initiatives under the Enterprise 2020 scheme at a national level. A record number of 36 collaborative initiatives developed by more than 600 organizations has been reached. The initiatives were selected among a total of 54 projects submitted and involve over 200 businesses, 100 NGOs, 100 universities and training centres, 9 regional governments and other stakeholders. Read more here.
To celebrate its tenth anniversary, Vigeo releases a new range of ESG indices identifying companies with the most advanced ESG performance. L’Oreal was awarded as the leader of the Vigeo French index and BT Group as the global leader. Four Vigeo indices have been created: - Vigeo World 120, the 120 most advanced companies in the world; - Vigeo Europe 120, the 120 most advanced European companies; - Vigeo France 20, the 20 most advanced French companies; - Vigeo United Kingdom 20, the 20 most advanced British companies. The indices constituents will be reviewed every six months. To find out more: - Indices’ compositions - About Vigeo's indices - Indices’ compositions - About Vigeo's indices.
Inrate: Sustainability Matters; Do investments in Green Buildings Pay off? The latest issue of the “Inrate Sustainability Matters” gives you an answer to this question and features an interview with Mr. Noel Morrin, Senior Vice President Sustainability at Skanska, on the current sustainability challenges within the construction sector: Download the Sustainability Matters – October 2012. 

 

 

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Member Affiliate Research

Bank Sarasin has published a follow-up of the annual solar study. The sustainability sector report "Working towards a cleaner and smarter power supply — Prospects for renewables in the energy revolution" is available in English and German on payment of a copyright fee of CHF 25 or EUR 20 from media@sarasin.ch. Robeco reports on the results of a fact-finding mission to Shell’s operations in the Niger delta with a group of institutional investors.  Pollution and gas flaring are two of the issues linked to the company in Nigeria. Read the article here. responsAbility publishes Microfinance Outlook 2013. High debt? Low growth? For Europe, the diagnosis may well be correct. But it does not apply to microfinance in developing and emerging economies, where we forecast growth of 15% to 20% in real terms for 2013. Read responsAbility’s full Microfinance Outlook 2013 here. Dexia Asset Management: Shale gas is a game changer, with the most energy-demanding countries blessed by the biggest reserves. What are the real Risks and Opportunities? Find out in Dexia AM in-depth SRI analysis of the environmental and social risks linked to shale gas: water consumption, groundwater contamination, impact on climate change, here. Back to top

Event 

SRI Workshop Day 2013
29 January 2013, Warsaw, Poland
The conference will target Polish investors encouraging them to begin incorporating ESG factors into their investment and management processes. The investors will be provided with knowledge about current initiatives and opportunities connected to SRI in Poland. Eurosif's Executive Director François Passant will present the findings of the latest European SRI Market Study and will lead a discussion on the topic ‘How SRI could be fostered in Poland’. Admission is free.

 

SRI Jobs For details of current SRI jobs please see the jobs section of the Eurosif website. For more information. To Keep up to date with Eurosif Activities please follow us on Twitter@Eurosif

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