The Norwegian Government Pension Fund: Moving Forward on Responsible Investing and Governance

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trude Myklebust
Keyword(s):  
Pension Fund ◽  
Responsible Investing

Pension beneficiaries’ and fund managers’ perceptions of responsible investment: a focus group study

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Apostolakis ◽  
Frido Kraanen ◽  
Gert van Dijk
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Pension Fund ◽  
Pension System ◽  
Freedom Of Choice ◽  
Investment Policies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Responsible Investment ◽  
Fund Managers ◽  
Responsible Investing

Purpose This study aims to explore the views of pension beneficiaries and fund managers regarding greater involvement and investment autonomy and the attitudes toward diverse responsible investment criteria. The conventional form of investing is usually vulnerable to high financial market volatility events and financial crises, and most importantly, it has proven insufficient in addressing important social issues. A newly introduced investment culture known as impact investing strives for social gains in the long term rather than the maximization of financial returns by aiming to tackle social problems. However, some in the field claim that implementing such investment policies compromises the fiduciary responsibility of pension funds’ trustees to manage trust funds in the best interest of beneficiaries. Design/methodology/approach This study uses qualitative methods to explore the perception of proposed pension policies, such as beneficiaries’ greater involvement in determining pension investment policies that can have a positive long-term impact on their lives and on the provision of investment autonomy. For this purpose, the study investigates beneficiaries’ positions regarding responsible investment criteria from a freedom-of-choice perspective. The study sample consists of members and managers of a Dutch pension administrative organization with a cooperative structure. Three semi-structured, homogeneous discussions with focus groups containing between seven and nine participants each are conducted. The data are coded both deductively and inductively, following the framework approach, which is a qualitative data analysis method. Findings Participants demonstrate positive attitudes toward greater involvement and freedom of choice. However, the findings also indicate that members and pension fund managers have different views regarding responsible investment criteria. Members have more favorable attitudes toward responsible investment than do managers. Research limitations/implications This research is limited to focus group discussions with managers and members in the Dutch healthcare sector. Practical implications How little the current pension system matches people’s investment preferences is a matter of concern, and the main implications of this research thus center upon designing a more democratic pension system for the future. Greater involvement by pension fund beneficiaries, whose roles are currently limited, would help legitimize responsible investing. This research implies that pension policies should be designed to align with the preferences of pension fund beneficiaries and be accompanied by diverse intervention strategies. Social implications Pension reforms that encourage pension beneficiaries to exert greater influence in determining pension policy will help shrink the democratic deficit in collective pensions. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on pension fund governance and long-term responsible investing by examining the attitudes toward impact and sustainable investments and by making suggestions for future research. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the attitudes of pension fund participants toward targeted impact investments.

scholarly journals Pension Fund Corporate Engagement

2004 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon L. Clark ◽  
Tessa Hebb
Keyword(s):  
Pension Fund ◽  
Pension Funds ◽  
Management Decision ◽  
Responsible Investing ◽  
Global Standards ◽  
Management Decision Making ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
Investment Portfolios ◽  
The Impact

Pension fund capitalism is a new, albeit evolving, stage of Anglo-American capital market development. It is marked by the ability of pension funds to aggregate the widely disbursed ownership of beneficiaries and therefore act as single entities with a unified voice. Pension funds within their investment portfolios are increasingly using this voice to engage companies. Such corporate engagement in its broadest definition is the use of one’s ownership position to influence company management decision making. Corporate engagement brings together four distinct underlying currents: first, the increased use of passive index funds; second, the corporate governance movement; third, the growing impact of socially responsible investing; and, finally, the impact of new global standards. At its best corporate engagement offers a long-term view of value that both promotes higher corporate, social and environmental standards and adds share value, thus providing long-term benefits to future pension beneficiaries.

Two different paths to sustainability? A comparison of a Finnish and a Swedish public pension reserve fund

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 298-317
Author(s):  
Niko Väänänen
Keyword(s):  
System Design ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Pension Fund ◽  
Pension System ◽  
Pension Funds ◽  
Public Pension ◽  
Responsible Investing ◽  
Reserve Fund ◽  
Investment Process

The role played by finance in allocating resources has become crucial in modern economies. Responsible Investing, i.e., the integration of non-financial criteria (such as environmental, social, and governance (ESG), negative/positive screening, and active ownership) into the investment process, has gained an important role. Does this apply to pension funds, too? This article compares two public pension reserve funds, one from Finland and one from Sweden, and describes their path towards responsible investments. The article shows that although having taken different paths, responsible investing has been clearly integrated into the investment process of both funds during the last decades. In Finland, the role played by pension fund insiders has been remarkable. In Sweden, legislators have played an active and significant role in the process. The design of the pension system equally plays an important role in the overall process. In Sweden, cooperation is promoted in responsible investments. In Finland, pension system design fosters competition, thereby reducing cooperation in investments. This article adds more information on the scarce comparative research on public pension reserve funds.

Understanding Socially Responsible Investing and Its Implications for Islamic Investment Industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Mohd Nizam Barom
Keyword(s):  
Investment Decision ◽  
Socially Responsible Investing ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Responsible Investment ◽  
Developed Economies ◽  
Responsible Investing ◽  
Screening Strategies ◽  
Investment Process ◽  
Islamic Investment

Understanding Socially Responsible Investing and Its Implications for Islamic Investment Industry // // // // // Social, ethical and environmental concerns have been used as important consideration for investment decision by an increasing number of investors. This can be seen by the size and growth of the socially responsible investment (SRI) industry in the developed economies. At the same time, scholars and commentators of Islamic finance have also called for Islamic investment industry to learn from the experience of SRI in incorporating social responsibility issues in the investment process, in line with the ethical principles of Islam and the overall objective of the Shari’ah (Maqasid al-Shari’ah). This would require Islamic investment sector to have a clear understanding of the SRI industry in order to effectively benefit from its experience. This is particularly critical due to the significant diversity of investors and complexity in the issues and strategies adopted in the SRI industry. Hence, this paper adds to the Islamic investment literature by providing an extensive  and systematic survey of SRI industry in terms of its (i) underlying motivations and values; (ii) issues of concerns; (iii) types of investors; and (iv) screening strategies. It then synthesizes these components within the context of the ‘value-based’ investors. This synthesized framework offers a useful tool for Islamic investment practitioners to understand the theoretical and practical aspects of SRI. Subsequently, the paper highlights important implications of the findings for Islamic investment industry in terms of the issues that it needs to consider in emulating SRI practices and a number of lessons that it can learn from the SRI experience.  

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