Social

Microfinance a source of financial and social return

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 7 OCT 2011  |  NEWS
Microfinance - the provision of provision of financial services such as loans to entrepreneurs in emerging market countries - has existed for at least 30 years. But in the past decade, microfinance has moved from being solely the remit of non-profits ...

Christian Super allocates $6m to social enterprise fund

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 7 OCT 2011  |  NEWS
The AU$450m Christian Super superannuation fund has made an AU$6m commitment to a social enterprise fund run by Brisbane-based Foresters Community Finance.

ASX500 companies increase number of women on boards

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 7 OCT 2011  |  NEWS
An analysis of ASX500 companies shows that there are 235 women holding 307 directorship positions, and 233 companies have at least one woman on board. The research note authored by the Reibey Institute noted that women hold 9.5% of ASX500 board positions ...

Miners, stakeholders agree to actions in Upper Hunter Valley

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 5 OCT 2011  |  NEWS
Miners and community stakeholders in the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales have agreed to a list of actions to address the impacts of coal mining on a range of issues from mine rehabilitation to water assessments, long term health impacts to local ...

Nearly half of ASX100 companies exposed to human rights risks

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 30 SEP 2011  |  NEWS
Nearly half of ASX100 companies are exposed to human rights risks in their overseas operations, and almost all of those companies have inadequate management systems in place to mitigate those exposures, a study by Net Balance has found.

Apparel industry exposed to social risk in supply chain

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 23 SEP 2011  |  NEWS
Eds note: article has been revised to include comment from Ian Woods of AMP Capital.

GRI release reporting standards for construction and real estate

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 23 SEP 2011  |  NEWS
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has released standards specific to the construction and real estate sectors, demonstrating how companies can report carbon emissions, management and remediation of contaminated land, and sub-contracted labour issues ...

ESG analysis now part of mainstream investment management

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 21 SEP 2011  |  NEWS
Environmental, social and governance risk considerations have evolved from a fringe area of investment management to become mainstream calculations. But asset owners and managers are seeking further integration into fixed income and cash asset allocations ...

Integrated reporting discussion paper released

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 21 SEP 2011  |  NEWS
Business reporting must evolve to account for the changed realities brought about by globalisation and its resulting interdependencies, and increased population growth and increasing global consumption, according to a discussion paper by the International ...

Investors integrating ESG into decisions have "an edge"

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 14 SEP 2011  |  NEWS
Because financial markets don't price environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk in an efficient manner, investors that do integrate ESG into their analysis and decision making have an advantage, according to Jane Goodland, a senior investment consultant ...