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There is a growing view among investment professionals that environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues can affect the performance of investment portfolios. Investors fulfilling their fiduciary (or equivalent) duty therefore need to give appropriate consideration to these issues, but to date have lacked a framework for doing so. The Principles for Responsible Investment provide this framework.

The Principles are voluntary and aspirational. They are not prescriptive, but instead provide a menu of possible actions for incorporating ESG issues into mainstream investment decision-making and ownership practices.

Signing represents a very real commitment to the Principles, demonstrating support from the top-level leadership of the whole investment business. And applying the Principles should not only lead to better long-term financial returns but also a closer alignment between the objectives of institutional investors and those of society at large.

Developing the Principles for Responsible Investment

In early 2005 the United Nations Secretary-General invited a group of the world’s largest institutional investors to join a process to develop the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). Individuals representing 20 institutional investors from 12 countries agreed to participate in the Investor Group. The Group accepted ownership of the Principles, and had the freedom to develop them as they saw fit.

The Group was supported by a 70-person multi-stakeholder group of experts from the investment industry, intergovernmental and governmental organizations, civil society and academia. The process, conducted between April 2005 and January 2006 involved a total of five days of face-to-face deliberations by the investors and four days by the experts, with hundreds of hours of follow-up activity. The Principles for Responsible Investment emerged as a result of these meetings.

The process was coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and the UN Global Compact. The PRI reflects the core values of the group of large investors whose investment horizon is generally long, and whose portfolios are often highly diversified. However, the Principles are open to all institutional investors, investment managers and professional service partners to support.

Following the launch of the Principles, the PRI Secretariat was created to help co-ordinate the adoption of the Principles by additional investors, provide comprehensive resources to assist investors in implementing the Principles, and to facilitate collaboration among signatories.

PRI Board

The PRI initiative is governed by an elected Board of 11 representatives from asset owner signatory organisations and two representatives from the United Nations. The Secretariat reports to the PRI Board.

Board members:

• Donald MacDonald, Trustee, British Telecom Pension Scheme
• Howard Jacobs, Trustee, Universities Superannuation Scheme
• Daniel Simard, General Coordinator, Comité syndical national de retraite Bâtirente
• Glen Saunders , Trustee, New Zealand Superannuation Fund
• Antoine De Salins, Executive Director, Fonds de réserve pour les retraites (FRR)
• Else Bos, CIO and Executive Director, PGGM
• Sopawadee Lertmanaschai, Government Pension Fund of Thailand
• Sergio Rosa, President, PREVI
• Patrick Mngconkola, Trustee, Government Employees Pension Fund of South Africa
• David Atkin, CEO, CBUS
• Wolfgang Engshuber, Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Munich Reinsurance America
• Achim Steiner, Executive Director, UNEP (Paul Clements-Hunt as special designate)
• Georg Kell, Executive Director, UN Global Compact (Gavin Power as special designate)