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| GRI and RobecoSAM Look at “What Matters” to Investors and Companies in Sustainability Reporting As the dialogue between company and investor base increasingly focuses on the materiality of corporate information, and the call for greater transparency – “what matters” to both corporate board and C-suite and the institutional investor base?The mandated reporting on financial and certain business matters is a very different conversation than the discussion about “what is material” in terms of corporate ESG performance (data, narrative, etc.). As more mainstream asset managers and key fiduciaries (like state pension funds) adopt ESG analytics and portfolio management approaches, investor attention turns to the “what” is available and just how comparable the ESG information may be (company-to-company).The often-heard complaint is about the lack of comparability in ESG information. The news from GRI and RobecoSAM about “comparability” and “quality” of information is an interesting read for you (it’s our Top Story). GRI is the global standard for corporate sustainability reporting; RobecoSAM is the manager of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index family (DJSI), a benchmark that continues to gain in popularity among asset owners and managers. (And is a sought-after badge of recognition among corporate boards and C-suite.) The two organizations teamed to publish “Defining What Matters: Do Companies and Investors Agree What is Material?” Top lines: Yes, there is now general alignment; GRI’s framework with the emphasis on materiality is a basis for corporate disclosure to investors; materiality is a threshold at which topics become important enough to disclose. Key: Companies should conduct a materiality assessment for their ESG disclosures and reporting, and (says RobecoSAM’s Christopher Greenwald, head of sustainable investing research) what investors want is consistent data on the most material issues…and the research paper is intended to help both investors and companies in understanding how to connect sustainability priorities with long-term corporate strategy. The research paper will be discussed at the upcoming GRI conference in Amsterdam (starting May 18). G&A Institute EVP Lou Coppola will be participating in various sessions of the conference discussing (among other things) sustainability research findings by the G&A team. Watch for news from Amsterdam in the coming days. If you’d like to discuss with a member of the G&A team how we can assist you in your own materiality processes please contact us at info@ga-institute.com. Check out our Top Story for details of the research effort by RobecoSAM and the Global Reporting Initiative. Top Story
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Asset Managers, US Pension Funds, America’s economy will rebound from this false dusk Norway’s oil fund to target high executive pay votes Activist investors often cause more good than harm NYC Pension Votes to Scrap $1.5 Billion Hedge Fund Portfolio Watching the Watchers ) MISSION / OVERVIEW The Council describes its mission as “to educate [CII] members, policymakers and the public about corporate governance, shareowner rights and related investment issues, and to advocate on members’ behalf.” CII writes that “Member funds of the Council of Institutional Investors are major long-term shareowners with a duty to protect the retirement assets of millions of American workers.” BACKGROUND Shareowners in that period usually had little voice in corporate operations and “did not appreciate the potential power of their proxy votes,” writes CII. CII coalesced thanks to a “group of 21 visionary public pension fund officials who believed that the companies in which they were investing their members’ retirement assets needed more oversight by shareowners. ” The institution managers also believed that their combined “proxy power” and other resources could “hold companies accountable.” The early leaders included well-known public officials (who served as co-chairs): • Jesse Unruh, the elected (and quite outspoken) state treasurer of California; These three and 18 other organization leaders were the founding Council members. News Sweeps
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GRI and RobecoSAM Look at “What Matters” to Investors and Companies in Sustainability Reporting
May 18, 2016
