A new climate initiative is advising Canadian companies on how to develop effective climate transition plans as part of a larger effort to support a sustainable financial cause. Business Future Pathways — spearheaded by Barbara Zvan, president and chief executive officer at the University Pension Plan — will bring together financial industry leaders for climate-change […]
Seventeen of the largest workplace pension providers in the U.K. have agreed to invest at least 10 per cent of their defined contribution default funds in private markets by 2030, with half of that total allocated to the U.K. The voluntary initiative, known as the Mansion House Accord, will be jointly led by the Association […]
The Canadian Sustainability Standards Board is appointing Wendy Berman as chair, effective May 5. Berman is a former vice-chair of the Ontario Securities Commission and, most recently, she was a partner and head of the national securities litigation group at McCarthy Tétrault LLP. She succeeds Bruce Marchand, who served as interim chair at the CSSB. […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is reporting nearly 80 per cent, or $330 billion, of its total portfolio is invested in assets with a low-carbon footprint. In its latest sustainable investing report, the Caisse said it holds $6.2 billion worth of transition assets looking to decarbonize their operations. The investment organization exceeded […]
The Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System is closing a new offering of term notes worth US$1 billion. The notes, which carry a five-year maturity rate, are priced at a yield of 4.43 per cent. The offering represents the ninth offering by the OMERS using U.S. currency as sovereign, supranational and agency bonds issuer. The offering […]
Although news of BlackRock Inc.’s departure from the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero may call into question the future of the climate action initiative, the road to net zero is still a priority for many financial institutions, says Sebastien Betermier, associate professor of finance at McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management. The alliance, which […]
The OPSEU Pension Trust has reduced its financed emissions intensity by 11 per cent when compared to 2022, according to the investment organization’s latest climate risk disclosure report. In 2023, the OPTrust extended the scope of its carbon footprint measurement to 70 per cent of its assets, up from 40 per cent in 2022. The […]
With 15 different client organizations, including nine public sector pension plans, the Alberta Investment Management Corp. has opted to engage, rather than divest, from certain investments, particularly those in the energy sector. “One of the things we were very clear on, both for ourselves and in talking to clients, is that divestment wasn’t the way […]
The United Nations’ Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance is reporting that 81 of its institutional investor members, representing combined assets under management of US$9.4 trillion, have set intermediate decarbonization targets. In its fourth progress report, the institutional investor association also reported reductions in absolute financed emissions of, on average, at least six per cent annually. The […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is investing £500 million in a new U.K.-based single-family rental housing joint venture. The initial allocation will give the investment organization a 90 per cent stake in the venture, while its partner, global real estate investment company Kennedy Wilson Holdings Inc., will hold a 10 per cent ownership stake […]