Sustainability Network
As part of its commitment to making financial markets more sustainable, SAM engages with institutions such as Eurosif, UN PRI, ASrIA and Ceres. Our active contribution to these important global platforms for collaborative action on sustainability issues enables us to help shape the global investment agenda. Our key memberships are outlined in the following:
UN PRI
The UN Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) were developed by an international group of institutional investors in response to the increasing relevance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues to investment practices. The process was convened by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The Principles provide a voluntary framework for investors to incorporate ESG issues into investment decision-making and ownership practices and so better align their objectives with those of society at large. More than 800 financial institutions had signed the UN PRI as of October 2010.
As a signatory of the UN PRI, SAM is part of a global network of peer investors exploring and acting on ESG issues. We publicly commit to adopting and implementing the Principles in the best long-term interests of our beneficiaries. We also commit to evaluating the effectiveness of the Principles and improving their content over time. In this way we can contribute to a more long-term oriented, transparent, sustainable and well-governed investment market and business activity.
The six Principles of the UN PRI to which signatories agree state:
- We incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes.
- We will be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices.
- We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest.
- We will promote acceptance and implementation of the Principles within the investment industry.
- We will work together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the Principles.
- We will each report on activities and progress toward implementing the Principles.
For more information on the UN PRI, go to www.unpri.org.
Eurosif
SAM is a signatory of the transparency guidelines for sustainable retail funds issued by the European Sustainable Investment Forum (Eurosif). The purpose of these guidelines is to improve the quality of reporting to private investors, fund managers, providers of research services, and other stakeholders.
Eurosif is a pan-European network and think tank whose mission is to champion sustainability through European financial markets. Eurosif members include institutional investors, financial service providers, academic institutes, research associations, trade unions and NGOs. As a not-for-profit entity, Eurosif represents assets totaling more than €1 trillion through its affiliate membership.
SAM fully endorses Eurosif’s transparency initiative. We believe that the guidelines serve as a useful orientation for investors and render the various investment processes adopted by individual fund pro-viders more transparent. SAM holds Eurosif’s transparency logo for sustainability investment funds, which underscores our commitment to a transparent communication of our sustainability investing strategy.
For more information on Eurosif, go to www.eurosif.org.
ASrIA
SAM is a member of the Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia (ASrIA), a not-for-profit membership association dedicated to promoting corporate responsibility and sustainable in-vestment practices in the Asia-Pacific region.
ASrIA's members include investment institutions managing over US$4 trillion in assets as well as civil society organizations. ASrIA has created a broad network of organizations and individuals interested in policy issues and investment strategies which are essential to the implementation of SRI in Asia. As such, ASrIA has become a regional platform to build momentum for socially responsible investments (SRI) in the region and to raise the standards of SRI practice.
For more information on ASrIA, go to www.asria.org.
Ceres
SAM actively supports Ceres, a US-based network of investors, environmental organizations and other public interest groups working to encourage companies and capital markets to incorporate envi-ronmental and social challenges into their day-to-day decision-making. By leveraging the collective power of investors and other key stakeholders, Ceres has achieved impressive results such as the introduction of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), now the defacto international standard used by over 1,300 companies for corporate reporting on environmental, social and economic performance.
By endorsing the Ceres Principles, companies formalize their dedication to environmental awareness and accountability and actively commit to an ongoing process of continuous improvement, dialogue and comprehensive, systematic public reporting.
For more information on Ceres, go to www.ceres.org.
SAM also actively engages with other important sustainability initiatives:
- CEO Water Mandate
- Forum Nachhaltige Geldanlagen
- Sustainability Forum Zurich
- Swiss Funds Association SFA
- UNEP Finance Initiative
- UN Global Compact
SAM has implemented a proactive approach to developing its research partnerships with academia. The purpose of its research collaborations is to confirm SAM’s research leadership position in the Sustainability Finance industry, capitalize on the value of SAM’s proprietary database and further develop its cutting edge methodology for integrating sustainability into the investment process.
Within this framework, SAM focuses on extensive collaboration with and sponsorship of selected academic institutions. In all research initiatives, SAM assumes an active role in designing, leading and actively supervising the projects. Over the past year, SAM has been involved in research collaborations with the following academic institutions:
- UQ Business School, The University of Queensland
- School of Finance, Actuarial Studies and Applied Statistics, The Australian National University
- IESE Business School, University of Navarra
- School of Management, University of St. Andrews
- Harvard Business School
- University of Cambridge