Eurosif November 2013 Newsletter

Eurosif November 2013 Newsletter

Eurosif Update

Eurosif’s Annual Event and first SRI Symposium was held on September 24th in Brussels. The event brought together over 100 delegates from both the European SRI industry and the Brussels (EU) policy circle. We would like to thank all the participants and the sponsors Dexia AM & KPMG for making this a successful event. For Eurosif’s Member Affiliates who are interested in the speakers' presentations, please click here. On October 2nd,  GLOBE EU, with the support of Eurosif and (EPE)  (European Partners for the Environment) organised a conference at the European Parliament in Brussels. Entitled: “How to mobilise private capital in support of a resilient, low carbon, resource-efficient and inclusive Europe?”. Over 170 registered for the high-level conference which was hosted by MEP Sirpa Pietikainen and attended by Commissioner Michel Barnier and Commissioner Janez Potočnik. For more information and select presentations from the conference, please contact anastasius@eurosif.org or go to the European Parliament website. Call for Action: 2014 European SRI Market Study Sponsorship. Eurosif is now opening sponsorship opportunities to interested parties for the upcoming 6th edition of its European SRI Market Study to be released late summer 2014. This study is the reference study in the market and is widely used by practitioners, industry commentators, academics and policy-makers. The last edition of the Study has been downloaded over 14,000 times. For more details, contact francois@eurosif.org. Webinar: Sustainable Investing Policy Developments – The View from Europe and the United States; December 4 at 11am -12pm (ET) in the United States, and 5-6pm (CEST Time) Join this transatlantic policy webinar jointly hosted by US SIF Foundation and Eurosif.  US SIF and Eurosif representatives will comment on their key policy priorities on environmental, social and corporate governance issues.  Learn about developments on sustainability policy issues in both regions of the world and discover areas of shared interest.  To register, please click here - Exclusively for Member Affiliates.

Eurosif Policy

On November 4th, the European Parliament’s  JURI (Legal Affairs) Committee issued its Draft Report on the European Commission’s Non-financial and Diversity Information Disclosure Proposal, which was published earlier this year.Eurosif welcomed the Proposal at the time of its publication, but offered a number of suggestions for improvements. On November 8th, Eurosif submitted its response to the Draft Report in the form of specific amendments to select MEPs.

Eurosif Research

SIF News

FIR Launched at the Parliament, the 4th French SRI Week comprised more than 60 events all over France. It was also the opportunity to launch the campaign “Demand SRI!”, which targets retail investors and invites them to write to their bankers or insurers to ask for more info about SRI. Learn more here. SPAINSIF On October 15th, Spainsif had its Fourth Annual Event in the Social and Economic Council Center in Madrid. 218 professionals attended. The experiences exposed evidence the important role of the public administration to improve the actions in SRI sector. More information here. FNG As a partner of the TBLI CONFERENCE™ Europe 2013, FNG participated in this event with a booth location. The conference took place in Zurich on November 14th and 15th. FNG board member and recognised expert in sustainable and responsible investing, Dr. Ingeborg Schumacher-Hummel, moderated a workshop on impact measurement.

Member Affiliate News Amundi has just been certified for its service commitments related to its SRI approach. ​Amundi has been awarded the first “Socially Responsible Investment approach” service commitment certification for its portfolio management. Designed by AFNOR Certification, an organisation that certifies and assesses systems, services, products and persons in France, this label guarantees the quality and transparency of SRI approaches.It outlines the service commitments of Amundi to all its clients in terms of SRI approach (distribution networks, institutional and private investors). Service commitments concern the guarantee of the expertise of the ESG analysis, data reliability and traceability, the governance method, information, constant improvement of practices, etc.The certificate, valid for three years, was awarded following an audit performed in Amundi's premises to check compliance of the company’s commitments and practices. More information here. On October 23rd, Pierre Stiennon, Senior RI analyst of AXA IM, discussed thoughts on the energy market and how a responsible investor selects equities in an AXA IM ESG Outlook audio broadcast. Listen to the broadcast.    Dexia AM’s proxy voting expert will attend the Italian SRI Week to present Dexia AM’s take on engagement and present how it can be an opportunity for investors and companies. To find out more about shareholders’ dissent, changing legislation and gender diversity on board, read our “Proxy-voting – a mid-season update” report. Inrate publishes Sustainability Guide 2013 featuring the new Inrate Sustainability Assessment – The guide analyzes the sustainability performance of sectors and companies in the STOXX® EUROPE 50 index. The analysis is based on the new Inrate Sustainability Assessment applying a specific sector concept and putting a particular focus on the environmental and social impact of companies. Free download of the full Inrate Sustainability Guide2013 here. Oekom research launched a new database, the oekom Controversy Monitor (OCM). OCM is a professional tool for assessing and managing reputational and financial risks associated with companies’ negative environmental and social impacts. The database covers over 3,000 companies worldwide and records the major controversies involving them. More information available here. SNS Asset Management has decided to put Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on the list of excluded companies after a disappointing engagement on fundamental labour rights. More specifically on employees’ freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. SRI Chronicles – Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management: Does Socially Responsible Investment earn higher or lower returns than traditional investments? How can we measure a company’s extra-financial, environmental and social performance? Click here to read more about the various theories on SRI strategy performance. Sustainalytics was voted best responsible investment research firm for the second year in a row in the Independent Research in Responsible Investment (IRRI) Survey. Conducted by Thompson Reuters Extel and SRI-Connect.com, the survey asked asset managers to rate the services of research providers. A number of Sustainalytics staff were also recognized. Read more here.

Member Affiliate Research ECPI, the advisory and sustainability index company providing the ESG research behind the FTSE ECPI Italia SRI Index series, on 11 November will present the sustainability profile of Italian companies during an event hosted by Borsa Italiana, the Italian stock exchange, within the Italian Ethical Investment week. According to the research, the key areas which Italian companies should strategically focus on are employees, community relations and the environment.The full study (in Italian) is available here. Etica Sgr annual shareholders engagement report is now available. The booklet includes general meeting reports, review of international campaigns, achieved results and more. Etica’s Engagement follows strict internal guidelines and is one of the pillars of the Company’s SRI approach. Please visit the website for more info. Vigeo's latest study 'Green, Social and Ethical Funds in Europe' offers a general outlook on SRI mutual funds in Europe and provides data regarding the number and size of funds but also information about SRI approaches, top performing funds, specific costs, companies within the portfolios and asset allocation.To have more news please have a look here.

Events Geneva Forum for Sustainable Investment GFSI, 5th edition Friday 6 June 2014, Swissôtel Métropole More information here. Eurosif Member Affiliates will receive discount. Zürich Forum for Sustainable Investment ZFSI, 2nd edition Friday 13 June 2014, Hotel Baur au Lac More information here. Eurosif Member Affiliates will receive discount.

SRI Jobs For details of current SRI jobs please see the jobs section of the Eurosif website. To keep up to date with Eurosif activities, please follow us on Twitter!@Eurosif

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