Investment

Australian Ethical survey identifies savings as top priority

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 6 FEB 2013  |  NEWS
Seven out of ten Australians have identified looking after their finances as a top priority for 2013, and a majority say that it is important that their investments are aligned with their personal values, according to a survey conducted on behalf of ...

US$178.5bn in sustainable investments in Australia

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 30 JAN 2013  |  NEWS
There are US$178.5bn of sustainable investments in Australia, representing about 18% of total assets under management, with integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors being the single largest strategy employed by sustainable investors ...

Unlisted alt assets as vehicle for accessing sustainability

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 25 JAN 2013  |  NEWS
Unlisted alternative assets can provide access to sustainability themes without the volatility exposures that come with listed market investments, and Mercer has said it is seeking to identify quality managers in this space.

Resource constraints could render pension funds insolvent

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 23 JAN 2013  |  NEWS
Pension schemes could potentially become insolvent within 35 years if future global economic growth is hindered by resource constraints and increasing costs from environmental pressures, according to new research from the British Institute and Faculty ...

PRI work stream to address systemic sustainability barriers

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 23 JAN 2013  |  NEWS
The United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) has launched a new work stream that will analyse how systemic barriers are impeding the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into investment decision and ...

VicSuper integrates governance risk into bond portfolio

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 18 JAN 2013  |  NEWS
VicSuper has developed a new benchmark index for its passive international fixed interest portfolio that integrates sovereign risk criteria evaluating countries for their willingness and ability to repay debt.

ESG factors impact on private equity valuation, dealmaking

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 16 JAN 2013  |  NEWS
Poor performance on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors can reduce valuations of potential private equity deals or cause potential buyers to walk away from an acquisition, according to research from the United Nations-backed Principles ...

Developing methods for monitoring impact investment returns

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 11 JAN 2013  |  NEWS
Australian investors are examining impact investments opportunities both domestically and overseas and are part of a growing pool of investors globally that are allocating funds to impact investments. As investors seek out investments that provide both ...

Monitoring impact investing: the practitioner's perspective

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 11 JAN 2013  |  NEWS
Concomitant with institutional investors developing their processes for evaluating and overseeing potential impact investments and fund managers in that sphere and working on appropriate benchmarks for measuring financial, social and environmental impacts ...

ASrIA: US$74bn in sustainable investment assets in Asia

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 9 JAN 2013  |  NEWS
Over 130 investment managers in Asia use sustainable investment approaches, and there is US$74bn of identified sustainable investment assets under management in the Asian region, according to a report from the Association for Sustainable and Responsible ...