Investment

Mercer: providing education and intervention on ESG

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 29 JUN 2011  |  NEWS
Bringing ESG risk/reward considerations to institutional investors such as superannuation funds is a matter of "intervention" and education for investment consultant Mercer, which has a specialist ESG team that produces research and develops strategies ...

MSCI launches 25 new ESG indices

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 29 JUN 2011  |  NEWS
MSCI has rolled out 25 new ESG indices, including indices that exclude holdings in manufacturers of controversial weapons and indices built around socially responsible investments.

IGCC: carbon price delay could cost electricity sector $2.5bn

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 24 JUN 2011  |  NEWS
A four-year delay to the start of a carbon pricing regime in Australia would cause an additional AU$2.5bn of additional costs to the electricity sector for both investors and energy users, according to a study commissioned by the Investor Group on Climate ...

The impact of universal owners on sustainable investing

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 24 JUN 2011  |  NEWS
Large asset owners that own a slice of country's economy and market through their portfolios are exposed to environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors that might impact long-term value, but they have the ability to use that economic and financial ...

MSCI launches ESG platform

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 24 JUN 2011  |  NEWS
MSCI has launched MSCI ESG Manager, a platform to assist asset managers and owners with managing research, analysis and compliance tasks across a range of ESG factors.

Catholic Super hires investment manager for sustainability

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 17 JUN 2011  |  NEWS
Catholic Super has hired Danyelle Guyatt, currently global head of research for Mercer's responsible investment practice, as the AU$4.16bn fund's investment manager. As part of her role, Guyatt will be responsible for designing and implementing a responsible ...

Ceres, Tellus Institute to design sustainability ratings standard

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 17 JUN 2011  |  NEWS
Ceres and Tellus Institute have launched an initiative to create a new, single ratings standard for sustainability performance of companies. The Global Initiative for Sustainability Ratings (GISR) will be modelled on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) ...

Climate change issues integrated into investment decisions

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 15 JUN 2011  |  NEWS
Institutional investors globally view climate change as a material investment risk/opportunity, and most frequently look to their listed equity portfolio when considering climate change issues, according to a Mercer study commissioned by international ...

Integrating ESG to enhance quantitative-style investment analysis

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 10 JUN 2011  |  NEWS
As investors continue to realise that the way companies manage their environmental, social and governance inputs reflect potential risk as well as potential opportunity, ESG factors are being incorporated into traditional quantitative and qualitative ...

Investor Profile: Australian Ethical Investment

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 3 JUN 2011  |  NEWS
James Thier is a a founding director ofAustralian Ethical Investment, a fund manager with AU$650m in assets under management that has specialised in ethical and sustainable investment since its 1986 inception. In addition to specialist funds, Australian ...