More than a fifth of FTSE 350 companies faced significant shareholder dissent in the 2019 AGM season – with executive pay and directors’ elections topping the list of investor discord. The shocking findings, from data gathered by the Minerva Analytics and the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, should make for uncomfortable reading for many UK […]
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The Church of England’s three National Investing Bodies (NIBs) have become the latest investors to join the UN’s Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance – taking the alliance’s total assets under management to more than $4.3 trillion. In joining the coalition, the Church’s three entities – the Commissioners for England, the Church of England Pensions Board […]
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Companies commit to standardised ESG data reporting More than 140 of the world’s largest companies are set to sign up to new set of non-financial reporting disclosures, which will chart their performance on ESG metrics such as greenhouse gas emissions, diversity, and employee wellbeing. The World Economic Forum’s International Business Council is co-ordinating the new […]
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The UK’s foremost standards body, the BSI, has released what it labels a “pioneering” framework to help organisations embed the principles of sustainable finance into their business processes. The framework, or so-called Publicly Available Specifications (PAS), is launched in collaboration with the finance sector and UK government and kick-starts the BSI’s five-year Sustainable Finance Standardisation […]
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Asset owners must drive the fundamental changes needed to fight climate change in the next five to 10 years before time runs out, a $4 trillion investor alliance has warned. The warning, made at the World Economic Forum event in Davos, comes from the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance. The organisation’s members pledged to ensure […]
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Reporting on workforce-related issues needs to improve to meet investor needs and reflect modern-day practices, according to a new report from the Financial Reporting Council’s Financial Reporting Lab. Workforce-related matters such as working conditions, changing contractual arrangements and automation have all become areas of increasing investor focus in recent years and the Lab’s report reveals […]
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Public trust in the world’s leading institutions is severely faltering as a major survey concluded no major institution is both competent and ethical. Worse still, the majority of people believe capitalism is doing more harm than good. Despite a strong global economy, the 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer, now in its 20th year, found that a […]
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One of the biggest shareholders in the oil and gas industries has stepped up its efforts on environmental issues, with its chief executive calling on companies to do more to combat climate change. Last week, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, joined influential climate change investor group, Climate Action 100+. The organisation, which represents […]
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Investors look ahead to ambitious EU agenda Fund groups, investors and law firms are weighing up the readiness of EU member states to implement new rules relating to environmental, social and governance-based investments. Top of the list is the introduction of the EU taxonomy, a framework designed to act as a catalyst for sustainable investment, […]
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The CEO of business lobbying giant, the US Chamber of Commerce, has delivered a surprise speech calling for bipartisan action on a number of issues – including climate change. In a clear departure from its traditional pro-Republican stance, the Chamber’s CEO Tom Donahue urged all political sides to come together to push through 35 bipartisan […]
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