Weekly Highlights May 20, 2010

ESG / Sustainability

Pax World Set To Begin Trading The ESG Shares North America Sustainability Index ETF (NASI) Tomorrow
(Wednesday – May 19, 2010)
Source:ETF Daily News – Pax World is set to begin trading their new “ESG Shares North America Sustainability Index ETF” (NASI) tomorrow. The Fund seeks investment returns that closely correspond to the price and yield performance, before fees and…

How Balanced Are CSR Reports?
(Wednesday – May 19, 2010)
Source:Triple Pundit – As GRI’s Certified Training Partners in the U.S., we have become connoisseurs of fine reporting and somewhat critical of lavish attempts to build credibility by what we feel is blatant greenwashing. Through all the reports we…

Responsible investing steps over $20 trillion, United Nations says
(Wednesday – May 19, 2010)
Source:Risk.net – Investing based on principles rather than pure monetary gains has increased significantly over recent years, with the financial crisis acting to emphasise the importance of taking long-term investment views. The United Nations’…

U.S. lags China on climate change: Europe climate chief
(Monday – May 17, 2010)
Source:Reuters – (Reuters) – The United States’ future as a global economic power depends on what it does to fight global warming and it is lagging behind other countries like China, Europe’s climate chief said on Wednesday.

Sovereign Wealth Funds

Norwegian fund takes on leadership role; Fund cutting bold path in investment arena and jumping to the forefront on ESG scene
(Monday – May 17, 2010)
Source:Pensions & Investments Online – The 2.76 trillion Norwegian kronor ($465 billion) Government Pension Fund-Global, Oslo, has increasingly asserted itself as a leader among sovereign wealth funds. In the past year, the giant oil fund has taken new — and very… 

Dubai World, Creditors Reach $23.5 Billion Debt Deal (Update4)
(Thursday – May 20, 2010)
– San Francisco Chronicle – Dubai World controls DP World Ltd., the world’s fourth- biggest port operator, real-estate developer Nakheel PJSC, private equity investor Istithmar World …

Sovereign Funds Show Reignited Interest in Shopping for U.S. Property
(Thursday – May 20, 2010)
– CoStar Group – GIC and Temasek Holdings of Singapore paired up to invest in the IPO of Chongqing-based property developer Longfor Properties Co., while China’s CIC …

United Arab Emirates: Spotlight on corporate governance
(Wednesday – May 19, 2010)
– Internatioonal Financial Law Review – PJSCs are listed on at least one of the UAE’s two stock exchanges: the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). …

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US Public Sector Pension Funds

Success spurs CalPERS to nix focus list for 2010
(Wednesday – May 19, 2010)
Source:Pensions & Investments – CalPERS stepped up its corporate governance activity this year, including lifting the limit on shareholder proxy proposals it could file and targeting eight major financial institutions on risk-related concerns and 58 other firms…

Public School Employee Pension Reform Now Reality In Michigan
(Thursday – May 20, 2010)
– Gov Monitor – Governor Granholm Signs School Pension Reforms, Legislation Helps Address Structural Deficit in School Aid Fund, New plan will save billions over 10 years. …

Why Public Pensions Will Not Be Able To Meet Future Obligations
(Wednesday – May 19, 2010)
– Gerson Lehrman Group – As an example, let’s take a quick look at those three biggest public pensions in California: Calstrs, Calpers and UC Fund. These three, by the way are also …

CalPERS seeks $600 million more from state
(Wednesday – May 19, 2010)
– San Jose Mercury News – The development is driven largely by CalPERS’ huge investment losses but also because people are living longer and retiring earlier. …

Watching the Watchers

Carbon Disclosure Project

Headquarters: London, England
Established: 2000

KEY PARTNERS
Merrill Lynch, Microsoft and Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC) are among key global partners.  Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Norges Bank / Norway SWF among key supporters.

OVERVIEW/MISSION
From the organization: “The Carbon Disclosure Project launched in 2000 to collect and distribute high quality information that motivates investors, corporations and governments to take action to prevent dangerous climate change.”

BACKGROUND
CDP analyzes business risks and opportunities, using data on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions that [it] requests from the world’s largest companies. In 2008, CDP sought information from 3,000 companies; 2204 of them responded. Surveys are made on behalf of institutional investors — CDP’s list covers 475 institution investors managing $55 trillion in assets — and corporate response is voluntary. The CDP Web site claims, “We operate the only global climate change reporting system.”

CDP is a global organization that, in late 2009, lists funding sources including governments (Australia, France, Holland, Sweden, UK, US), the Nathan Cummings and Esmee Fairburn Foundations, and corporate sponsorships.

CDP membership program is open to signatory investors, who sign on but do not have to pay. Organization wanting to upgrade their membership status in exchange for premium access to data and project involvement do pay. Signatories include banks, pension funds, asset managers and insurance companies.

Governance & Accountability Institute is a monitoring, intelligence-gathering and knowledge management center operating at the intersections of powerful forces reshaping relationship between stockholders and stakeholders, and the public corporation. For more information, contact us at 516.248.2383 or info@ga-institute.com.