| Organisational Overview | ||||||
| Organisational Overview This section captures information that helps determine if some of the subsequent questions are required and also plays a role in benchmarking. Please make sure you provide accurate answers. This is also one of the more challenging sections as it may require gathering information from multiple sources. We suggest you collect all this information before progressing to other parts of the questionnaire. | ||||||
| 1. What were your organisation's total assets under management as of the most recent count (in millions)? (Estimating to the nearest hundred million as of December 31 2008 would be preferable - although the most recent available count would be sufficient. If your currency is not listed, please select 'other' and indicate your currency or convert to United States dollars.) | 6400 | |||||
| Please select currency | Euro (EUR) | |||||
| 1a. If 'Other' was selected, please specify the other currency here | No Answer | |||||
2. Please pick the one category and level of complexity that best describes your organisation (if your organisation is a pension fund, please also select your pension type). This information may be used to provide you with the best possible benchmarking. Complexity
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| Non-corporate pension or superannuation or retirement or provident fund or plan | Simple | Primarily defined contribution | ||||
| 2a. If 'Other' was selected, please specify the other category here | No answer | |||||
| 3. Please provide an approximation of your average asset mix for 2008 or your asset mix as of the most recent count (in percent):(+/- 5% is sufficient. The sum of all the fields must be 100%) | ||||||
Active | Passive | Active | Passive | |||
| Listed equity (developed markets) | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | ||
| Listed equity (emerging markets) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Fixed income (not including corporate issuers) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Fixed income (corporate issuers) | 89 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Private equity | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Listed real estate or property | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Non-listed real estate or property | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Hedge funds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Commodities | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Infrastructure | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Cash | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Governance, Policy and Strategy | ||||||
| Governance, Policy and StrategyQuestions 5 through 15 are about the governance and oversight of your organisation's responsible investment activities and the associated policies and strategy. This section will be scored separately from the six Principles."Policy" in this section may refer to one overall RI policy or multiple policies that address various elements of RI. | ||||||
| 5. Do you have a policy that makes specific reference to responsible investment (RI) or environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues? | Yes | |||||
| 6. If you have a policy that makes specific reference to RI/ESG issues, which of the following Principles does it address?(Please check all that apply.) | Principle 1: We will incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes.,Principle 2: We will be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices.,Principle 3: We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest.,Principle 6: We will each report on our activities and progress towards implementing the Principles. | |||||
| 7. If you have a policy that makes specific reference to RI/ESG issues, which of the following asset classes does it apply to?(Please check all that apply.) | Listed equity (developed markets),Fixed income (corporate issuers) | |||||
| 8. If you have a policy that makes specific reference to RI/ESG issues, when was your policy last reviewed? | Within the last 3 years, and planning to in 2009 | |||||
| 9. If you have a policy that makes specific reference to RI/ESG issues, has it been disclosed publicly?(If answering yes, please indicate how this statement can be obtained - a URL would be sufficient. If answering no, please explain why not.) | Yes: 'http://www.rafp.fr/download.php?file_url=IMG/pdf/ERAFP_SRI_Charter.pdf' | |||||
10. To what extent has your approach to responsible investment been translated into a plan of action as reflected in business planning, strategic planning, or similar internal management processes?
| To a large extent | |||||
| 11. Who within your organisation has responsibilities related to RI implementation?(Please check all that apply.) | Board of trustees or board of directors,Committee of the board of trustees or board of directors,Chief Executive Officer or Chief Investment Officer or equivalent,RI or ESG specialist,Non RI or ESG investment professional | |||||
| 12. Do you have a policy or approach/process that requires screening out or excluding stocks or sectors from your investment universe? | Stocks | |||||
| 13. What are your reasons for screening out or excluding stocks or sectors from your investment universe?(Please check all that apply.) | We believe that exclusion is a way in which we can influence the behaviour of companies (i.e. an element of our approach to engagement) | |||||
| 14. Please describe how your organisation assesses if there is a link between your RI activities and the performance (risk and return) of your investments: | Regarding sovereign bonds, which represent the vast majority of our investments, we conducted a study in October 2008 on the relation between yields and the ESG ratings of countries. This study showed a very strong negative correlation (-0.85, meaning a higher SRI rating is linked to lower yields). Increasing the ESG score by 1% point lowers the yield by approximately 2 basis points. This study also showed that at the start of the crisis in mid-2007, SRI ratings of countries were a much better predictor of returns (widening spreads) than the credit ratings. Regarding equities, which are managed by four external managers, we received performance attributions on our mandates, using four different methodologies, showing that the ESG criteria have had a postitive impact on performance, partly because of their bias towards large cap, stable companies. | |||||
| 15. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Governance, Policy, and Strategy here. | The Board of Trustees is composed mostly of employee (trade union) and employer representatives. They initiated the SRI policy, and have been deeply involved in the definition of the framework, actually writing most of the policy statements themselves. The Board has set up an "asset management" committee, which meets at least every two months and mostly deals with SRI issues. Regarding Q13, it should be noted that the overall principle is that of best-in-class, not exclusion per se. | |||||
| Principle 1 | ||||||
Principle 1: We will incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes.For the purposes of this questionnaire, integration is the consideration of ESG issues alongside traditional financial measures, based on the belief that ESG issues can affect the performance (risk and/or return) of investment portfolios (to varying degrees across companies, sectors, regions, asset classes and through time). Please note that the view that ESG issues can influence investment returns may be based either on
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| 16. Please provide a one to two paragraph description of your approach to this Principle.This question and similar questions relating to each of the other Principles are being asked for three reasons. The first reason is to gather details regarding signatory implementation for inclusion in the PRI annual report on progress. The second reason is to capture activities not captured directly by questions in the Reporting and Assessment Tool. The third reason is to provide context and details to support verification calls. | We take what we call a "global and integrated" approach to integrating ESG issues into investment processes. It : - applies to all asset classes and all assets - applies to all stages of the process, from asset selection to divestment - takes into account a wide array of ESG criteria, which are applied transversally, instead of having a multitude of theme funds - looks at the whole lifecycle : supply chain issues, production, and impact from the use of products. | |||||
| Integration of ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes of internally managed assets | ||||||
| 17. For what percentage of your internal assets under active management do you integrate RI/ESG issues into your internal investment decision-making processes (in percent)?(+/- 5% is sufficient.) | ||||||
| Fixed income (corporate issuers) | 100 | |||||
18. To what extent have you integrated RI/ESG issues into your internal active investment decision-making processes?(Applies only to investments that include integration of RI/ESG issues as indicated in Q17.)
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| Fixed income (corporate issuers) | To a large extent | |||||
19. When forming investment views, to what extent does your organisation gather and analyse ESG information, including, where applicable, information obtained from engagement activities?(Applies only to investments that include integration of RI/ESG issues as indicated in Q17.)
| To a large extent | |||||
20. To what extent do portfolio managers or others making investment decisions in your organisation apply the ESG information and analysis available to them when constructing and managing portfolios?(Applies only to investments that include integration of RI/ESG issues as indicated in Q17.)
| To a large extent | |||||
21. To what extent do you have a process for improving the effectiveness of research and portfolio management processes with regards to ESG factors?(Applies only to investments that include integration of RI/ESG issues as indicated in Q17.)
| To a large extent | |||||
22. To what extent do you have a process for assessing and improving internal investment staff competency to incorporate RI/ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes?(Applies only to investments that include integration of RI/ESG issues as indicated in Q17.)
| To a moderate extent | |||||
| Integration of ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes of externally managed assets | ||||||
| 23. For what percentage of your external assets under management are RI/ESG issues integrated into the investment decision-making processes of your external investment managers (in percent, +/- 5% is sufficient)? | ||||||
| Listed equity (developed markets) | 100 | |||||
24. To what extent have RI/ESG issues been integrated into the investment decision-making processes of your external investment managers?(Applies only to investments that include integration of RI/ESG issues as indicated in Q23.)
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| Listed equity (developed markets) | To a large extent | |||||
25. To what extent do you consider the capabilities of external investment managers to incorporate RI/ESG issues when searching for, selecting and retaining your external investment managers?(Applies only to investments that include integration of RI/ESG issues as indicated in Q23.)
| To a large extent | |||||
| Integration - final comments | ||||||
| 26. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 1 here. Please also describe any significant activities relating to Principle 1 that have not been captured by the questions above. | Regarding Q17, it should be noted that we manage bonds issued by governments, local authorities, agencies and supranationals internally. We do not manage corporate bonds in-house. A tender process should be finalized in April 2009 for the selection of external managers for corporate bonds, which we will then start to invest in. The SRI policy has been adapted for all these types of bonds, whether they are managed internally or externally. | |||||
| Principle 2 | ||||||
| Principle 2: We will be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices. | ||||||
| 27. Please provide a one to two paragraph description of your approach to this Principle. | For equities, which are managed externally, we have chosen four managers, three of which engage with companies. Most of their engagement aims to get a better knowledge of the companies (increase disclosure / get feedback from company management on controversies raised by NGOs etc.). To some extent their engagement also seeks to make companies change their behaviour, for example by pointing out to management what their weaknesses appear to be, or getting them to change resolutions before they are submitted to the AGM. Regarding bonds, which for the time being are all managed in-house, we focus on engagement with local authorities ("municipal bonds") since this is an asset class where we weigh much heavier than for sovereigns for example. | |||||
| (Proxy) voting - applies only to listed equity (developed markets), listed equity (emerging markets) and listed real estate or property. | ||||||
| 28. Do you have a (proxy) voting policy?(If 'Yes - disclosed publicly', please indicate how your (proxy) voting policy can be obtained- a URL would be sufficient. If answering no, please explain why not.) | No, planning to in 2009 | |||||
| 29. Does your (proxy) voting policy address environmental, social, and governance issues? | ||||||
| Environmental | Not applicable | |||||
| Social | Not applicable | |||||
| Governance | Not applicable | |||||
| 30. Who decided how to vote on ballot items on behalf of your organisation in 2008?(Please check all that apply.) | External investment manager,External proxy voting service | |||||
31. To what extent is information related to ballot items gathered and analysed before voting decisions are made?
| To a large extent | |||||
| 32. Do you ensure that voting is done in accordance with your voting instructions? | Yes for some | |||||
| 33. Do you inform companies of your rationale when you abstain or vote against management recommendations? | Yes for some | |||||
| 34. Please indicate how many resolutions you could have voted on and how many resolutions you did vote on in 2008:(include abstentions as votes where votes against are not possible, use the last available one year period if information for 2008 is not available or too difficult to gather, approximate numbers are acceptable. If you are unable to provide the exact number please provide an approximation of the percentage by entering 10 in the 'Resolutions could have voted on' column and your estimate in the 'Resolutions voted on' column. So if you voted on about 70% of the possible resolutions you would enter 7 in the 'Resolutions voted on' column. If you are not sure, please enter a 1 in all four fields.) | ||||||
| Domestic | 10 | 8 | ||||
| Foreign | 10 | 8 | ||||
| 35. You are classified as an Asset Owner and should not answer this question. For the listed equities that you manage, do you provide (proxy) voting services for your clients if they request them? | No Answer | |||||
| 36. How does your securities lending program address voting? | We do not have a securities lending program | |||||
| 37. How many shareholder resolutions related to ESG issues did you file or co-file during 2008? | ||||||
| As lead filer | 0 | |||||
| As co-filer | 0 | |||||
| Planning to be lead filer in 2009 | 0 | |||||
| Planning to be co-filer in 2009 | 0 | |||||
| 38. Please explain why you did or did not file or co-file any shareholder resolutions related to RI/ESG issues during 2008: | We delegate voting to our external asset managers. While they are very active in analysing resolutions, participating at AGMs and discussing resolutions with company management, none of them have filed resolutions. Some of the asset managers are subsidiaries of listed banking groups, and may therefore perhaps be reluctant to go to such an extent in opposing management at other listed companies. They nevertheless tend to support many resolutions filed by other shareholders. | |||||
| Engagement - general | ||||||
| 39. Who engaged with companies to seek ESG improvements in 2008?Please rank who engaged with companies according to their importance within your overall active ownership activities. You can only select Most, Second, Third and Fourth most important once each. Only the method you rank as 'Most important' will be scored for benchmarking purposes. If you wish to request that your other methods of engagement also be scored, please complete all the relevant sections and email the PRI at assessment@unpri.org when you submit your response. | ||||||
| Internal staff | Did not engage with companies in 2008 | |||||
| External investment manager(s) | Most important | |||||
| External engagement service provider(s) | Did not engage with companies in 2008 | |||||
| Second most important | |||||
| 40. Do you have a written engagement policy or other documents that direct engagement?(If 'Yes - disclosed publicly', please indicate how your policy can be obtained- a URL would be sufficient.) | Planning to in 2009 | |||||
| 41. If you have an engagement policy or other documents that direct engagement, what do they include?(Please check all that apply.) | No Answer | |||||
| 42. How many companies are you invested in? | 192 | |||||
| Engagement - internal staff | ||||||
43. This question is not applicable to you due to your response to Q39 regarding who engages with companies. To what extent do you have a process for identifying and prioritising ESG related engagement opportunities?
| No Answer | |||||
44. This question is not applicable to you due to your response to Q39 regarding who engages with companies. How many portfolio companies did you engage with on ESG issues in 2008?
| ||||||
| Extensive engagement | ||||||
| Moderate engagement | ||||||
| Basic engagement | ||||||
| 45. This question is not applicable to you due to your response to Q39 regarding who engages with companies. What proportion of your engagements addressed environmental, social or governance issues (in percent)?(One engagement may address more than one issue, so the three percentages need not add to 100%. For example, if you only had one engagement and it addressed environmental and governance issues then the answer would be 100% for environmental and 100% for governance.) | ||||||
| Environmental | ||||||
| Social | ||||||
| Governance | ||||||
46. This question is not applicable to you due to your response to Q39 regarding who engages with companies. To what extent do you set ESG engagement objectives and attempt to evaluate your engagement success?
| No Answer | |||||
| 47. This question is not applicable to you due to your response to Q39 regarding who engages with companies. What percentage of engagements that ended in 2008 were deemed successful (in percent)?(Engagement success: a considerable part of objectives or milestones that were set when the engagement commenced were achieved.) | No Answer | |||||
48. This question is not applicable to you due to your response to Q39 regarding who engages with companies. To what extent do you have a process for assessing and improving staff competency to act as active owners and incorporate ESG issues into ownership practices?
| No Answer | |||||
| Engagement - external engagement service provider(s) | ||||||
49. This question is not applicable to you due to your response to Q39 regarding who engages with companies. How many portfolio companies did your external engagement service provider(s) engage with on ESG issues on your behalf in 2008?
| ||||||
| Extensive engagement | ||||||
| Moderate engagement | ||||||
| Basic engagement | ||||||
| 50. This question is not applicable to you due to your response to Q39 regarding who engages with companies. What proportion of your external engagement service provider(s)'s engagements on your behalf addressed environmental, social or governance issues (in percent)?(One engagement may address more than one issue, so the three percentages need not add to 100%. For example, if you only had one engagement and it addressed environmental and governance issues then the answer would be 100% for environmental and 100% for governance.) | ||||||
| Environmental | ||||||
| Social | ||||||
| Governance | ||||||
51. This question is not applicable to you due to your response to Q39 regarding who engages with companies. To what extent do you contribute to and assess the ESG engagement activities of your external engagement service provider(s)?
| No Answer | |||||
| Engagement - external investment manager(s) | ||||||
52. How many portfolio companies did your external investment manager(s)'s engage with on ESG issues on your behalf in 2008?
| ||||||
| Extensive engagement | 0 | |||||
| Moderate engagement | 10 | |||||
| Basic engagement | 110 | |||||
| 53. What proportion of your external investment manager(s)'s engagements on your behalf addressed environmental, social or governance issues (in percent)? (One engagement may address more than one issue, so the three percentages need not add to 100%. For example, if you only had one engagement and it addressed environmental and governance issues then the answer would be 100% for environmental and 100% for governance.) | ||||||
| Environmental | 50 | |||||
| Social | 50 | |||||
| Governance | 50 | |||||
54. To what extent do you contribute to and assess the ESG engagement activities of your external investment manager(s)?
| To a moderate extent | |||||
| 55. Did you consider the capabilities of external investment managers to engage with companies on ESG issues on your behalf when searching for, selecting and retaining your investment managers? | Yes, for all of our external investment managers | |||||
| Engagement - final comments | ||||||
| 56. What ESG issues were addressed in your or your service providers' engagement initiatives? (Please check all that apply.) | Benefits and compensation,Bribery/corruption,Climate change,Environment,Governance,Health,Health and safety,Human rights,Labour issues | |||||
| 57. What measures do you or your external service provider(s) use to assess the impact and success of engagement? | Our external asset managers are not specialised on engagement: they are first and foremost applying our best-in-class policy, whereby they should divest from companies with proven poor ESG records. They do not provide detailed quantitative reporting on their overall engagement activities, therefore the figures in Q52 and Q53 are just good estimates based on information available. What we do discuss with them, at our twice-yearly meetings, is their view on our portfolio companies with poor ESG practices: they usually engage with these companies to discuss problematic issues before our meetings, and report back to us. | |||||
| 58. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 2 here. Please also describe any significant activities relating to Principle 2 that have not been captured by the questions above. | We manage bonds issued by local authorities ("municipal bonds") in-house. We are a relatively important investor for this asset class, so we feel direct engagement may be effective. In 2008 we wrote a letter to 26 local authorities to ask them to participate in the ESG-rating process, since their public disclosure on these matters is usually poor. We wrote a letter in 2009 to three local authorities represented in our portfolio, which had particularly poor ratings. We intend to meet with a fourth one, to discuss with them their poor ratings. | |||||
| Principle 3 | ||||||
| Principle 3: We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest. | ||||||
| 59. Please provide a one to two paragraph description of your approach to this Principle. | We have appointed two external ESG ratings agencies to assess issuers, in addition to the assessments performed by our external equity managers. They both provide feedback to issuers on the quality of their reporting, and support GRI format reporting. Nevertheless, the agencies do not rely on standard questionnaires. Some of the external equity managers are active contributors to initiatives such as the CDP to promote better disclosure. | |||||
| 60. Who asked investee companies (or other investment entities) to provide information about their ESG policies, practices or performance in 2008?(Please check all that apply.) | External investment manager(s),External investment manager(s) collaboratively with other investors,Other (please specify): 'External ESG rating agencies' | |||||
61. To what extent did you or your external engagement service provider(s) or your external investment manager(s) have a dialogue with investee companies (or other investment entities) regarding the production of standardized reporting about their ESG policies, practices or performance in 2008?('Standardized' could also include systematic reporting in areas where standardized reporting has not yet emerged.)
| ||||||
| Listed equity (developed market) | To a large extent | |||||
| Fixed income (corporate issuers) | Planning to in 2009 | |||||
| 62. What formats of reporting on ESG issue policies, practices or performance have been requested? Please check all that apply. | Integrated with regular financial reports,Standalone corporate social responsibility or sustainability reporting,Global Reporting Initiative (GRI),Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) | |||||
63. To what extent did you or your external engagement service provider(s) or your external investment manager(s) seek information from companies regarding their practices related to norms, standards, codes of conduct or international initiatives related to ESG issues in 2008?
| To a large extent | |||||
| 64. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 3 here. Please also describe any significant activities relating to Principle 3 that have not been captured by the questions above. | Regarding Q61, we don't curretly invest in corporate bonds. The tender for the selection of an external corporate bond manager should be finalized in April 2009, and the same requirements in terms of disclosure will be applied as for equity issuers. We manage bonds issued by local authorities in-house. Since their public disclosure is much poorer than for large cap listed companies, we wrote a letter to 26 local authorities in 2008, asking them to participate in the rating process by answering the questions of our rating agencies. | |||||
| Principle 4 | ||||||
| Principle 4: We will promote acceptance and implementation of the Principles within the investment industry. | ||||||
| 65. Please provide a one to two paragraph description of your approach to this Principle. | Since all asset classes and all assets are managed according to our SRI policy, the capacity to analyse these issues are crucial in the selection for all external providers: asset managers, investment consultants (for ALM studies and manager selection), lawyers (for writing investment mandates) and of course ESG rating agencies. | |||||
| 66. Did you consider RI/ESG requirements when searching for and selecting service providers in 2008 when applicable? | ||||||
| Investment consultant | Yes, all of the time | |||||
| Proxy voting service provider | Not applicable | |||||
| External overlay service provider | Not applicable | |||||
| Investment research provider | Yes, all of the time | |||||
| 67. Have you included RI/ESG elements in the following? | ||||||
| Investment monitoring | Yes, all of the time | |||||
| Incentive structure (internally managed) | No | |||||
| Incentive structure (externally managed) | Yes, all of the time | |||||
| Contractual relationships with external investment managers | Yes, all of the time | |||||
| Contractual relationships with other investment related service providers | Yes, all of the time | |||||
68. To what extent did you encourage your eligible service providers to become PRI signatories or consider RI/ESG factors in 2008?(Service providers include but are not limited to: external investment managers, investment consultants, proxy voting service providers, external engagement service providers, and investment research providers.)
| To a large extent | |||||
69. You are classified as an Asset Owner and should not answer this question. To what extent did you encourage your institutional clients to become PRI signatories or consider RI/ESG factors in 2008?
| No Answer | |||||
70. To what extent did you encourage peer organisations to become PRI signatories or consider RI/ESG factors in 2008?
| To a small extent | |||||
| 71. Have you revisited any relationships with service providers in light of RI/ESG issue-related capabilities? | No | |||||
| 72. Does your broker evaluation process (which determines how you allocate commissions to brokers) include an ESG component and/or do you have a budget to pay for ESG broker research? | Yes | |||||
| 73A. What is your total investment research budget (including brokerage commissions intended to recognize research, in the same currency used in Q1) | 164000 | |||||
| 73B. what proportion of your total investment research budget is allocated to ESG research (in percent)? | 100 | |||||
74. To what extent do you identify ESG issues and suggest them to brokers or other investment research providers for research?
| To a large extent | |||||
75. To what extent did you engage in dialogue, lobbying or initiatives pertaining to government policy and/or industry regulations (for example, stock exchanges or accounting standards) related to RI/ESG issues in 2008?
| Planning to in 2009 | |||||
| 76. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 4 here. Please also describe any significant activities relating to Principle 4 that have not been captured by the questions above. | Regarding Q72, two of our four external equity managers are signatories of the Enhanced Analytics Initiative, though we can't provide figures for their ESG-related brokerage commissions. The figure in Q73 relates to the purchase of ESG analysis from our ESG rating agencies. Regarding Q74, 9 of the 45 ESG criteria taken into account in our SRI policy are issues the two rating agencies working for us had to add to their databases, since they are specific to us: they include issues such as organic growth of employment and dealings with tax havens. For the ESG ratings of local authorities, coverage was initiated by the rating agencies as a result of our tender for this asset class. | |||||
| Principle 5 | ||||||
| Principle 5: We will work together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the Principles. | ||||||
| 77. Please provide a one to two paragraph description of your approach to this Principle. | For the time being we have collaborated more with our numerous service providers than with the general investment community. This partly reflects the fact that our policy is largely specific to us, dealing with issues (e.g. employment growth) and asset classes (e.g. municipal bonds) which are not on the top of the agenda of most other investors. In the future we nevertheless hope to increase our collaboration if we find investors sharing our preoccupations. | |||||
78. To what extent did you collaborate with other investors to improve your effectiveness in implementing each of the following Principles?
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| Principle 1 | To a small extent | |||||
| Principle 2 | Not at all | |||||
| Principle 3 | To a small extent | |||||
| Principle 4 | Not at all | |||||
| 79. How did you use the PRI Engagement Clearinghouse in 2008?(Please check all that apply.) | Logged in during 2008 to use the Clearinghouse as a learning tool or to keep up to date on ongoing engagements | |||||
| 80. Did you participate in any of the following RI/ESG issue-related collaborations and/or associations? For those not listed, please use the "other" field:(Please check all that apply.) | Other (please specify): '"Sustainable Finance and Responsible Investment" chair of Ecole Polytechnique and University of Toulouse',Other (please specify): '"European research award for Finance and responsible investment" of the French SIF',Other (please specify): '"Long term investors club" initiated by the Caisse des Dépôts.' | |||||
81. Please indicate the three RI/ESG issue-related collaborative engagement initiatives and/or industry associations that you participated in most extensively and indicate how you did so:
| ||||||
| PRI | To a small extent | We are one of the early signatories of the PRI. Though our participation has not yet been very active, we hope to contribute more if areas that are of particular relevance to us were to be addressed, such as how the include ESG analysis for sovereign bonds and asset allocation decisions. | ||||
| 1st Other specify from Q80 | To a small extent | We are a founding member of the "Sustainable Finance and Responsible Investment" chair of Ecole Polytechnique and University of Toulouse. We particpated in several meetings with the researchers, discussing their findings. | ||||
| 2nd Other specify from Q80 | To a moderate extent | We participated in the jury of the "European research award for Finance and responsible investment". This award is organised by the French SIF. | ||||
| 82. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 5 here. Please also describe any significant activities relating to Principle 5 that have not been captured by the questions above. | We rely, by law, on external asset managers for all equity investments. The four external asset managers we have appointed are all specialised ESG asset managers, and participate in a number of the initiatives listed in question 80. | |||||
| Principle 6 | ||||||
| Principle 6: We will each report on our activities and progress towards implementing the Principles. | ||||||
| 83. Please provide a one to two paragraph description of your approach to this Principle. | The SRI committe of the Board of Trustees meets at least every two months and is updated on all aspects of the implementation of the SRI policy. In particular the committee is provided with quarterly reports on the integration of ESG issues in the investment portfolio. A comprehensive and detailed report on the implementation of the SRI policy for the year 2008 was submitted to our Board of Trustees as a whole in March 2009. A shorter version will be disclosed later in 2009 (May or June) and posted on our website. | |||||
84. To what extent did you disclose (privately and/or publicly) your approach to incorporating ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes in 2008?(If you disclose publicly, please indicate how this disclosure can be obtained - a URL would be sufficient. If answering not at all, please explain why not.)
| To a large extent: 'The 2008 annual SRI report presented to the Board of Trustees contains precise details on the on how ESG issues were integrated in the management of the entire investment portfolio. A shorter version will be disclosed later in 2009 (May or June) and posted on our website.' | |||||
| 85. How did you disclose your (proxy) voting record in 2008?(Please select all that apply. If you disclose publicly, please indicate how this disclosure can be obtained - a URL would be sufficient. If answering not at all, please explain why not.) | Disclosed to clients or beneficiaries,Disclosed publicly: 'The 2008 annual SRI report presented to the Board of Trustees contains details on the proxy voting record. A shorter version will be disclosed later in 2009 (May or June) and posted on our website.',Summary of votes,Guidance explaining some votes,Disclosed annually | |||||
86. To what extent did you disclose (privately and/or publicly) your RI/ESG issue-related engagement activities, results and progress in 2008?(If you disclose publicly, please indicate how this disclosure can be obtained - a URL would be sufficient. If answering not at all, please explain why not.)
| To a small extent: 'The 2008 annual SRI report presented to the Board of Trustees contains some information on engagement-related initiatives. A shorter version will be disclosed later in 2009 (May or June) and posted on our website.' | |||||
| 87. Did you disclose (privately and/or publicly) RI/ESG activities, results and progress related to Principle 3, Principle 4 or Principle 5 in 2008?(If you disclose publicly, please indicate how this disclosure can be obtained - a URL would be sufficient. If answering not at all, please explain why not.) | ||||||
| Principle 3 | Yes - to clients or beneficiaries and the public | The 2008 annual SRI report presented to the Board of Trustees contains details on how investee companies disclose information on five subjects of particular interest to ERAFP (sharing of added-value between workers and shareholders, collective bargaining agreements etc.). A shorter version will be disclosed later in 2009 (May or June) and posted on our website. | ||||
| Principle 4 | Yes - to clients or beneficiaries and the public | The 2008 annual SRI report presented to the Board of Trustees contains details on our discussions with oiur multiple service providers (rating agencies and asset managers). A shorter version will be disclosed later in 2009 (May or June) and posted on our website. | ||||
| Principle 5 | Yes - to clients or beneficiaries and the public | The 2008 annual SRI report presented to the Board of Trusteescontains some information on our participation in the collaborative initiatives mentioned in Q80. A shorter, public, version will be disclosed later in 2009 (May or June) and posted on our website. | ||||
| 88. How would you like to publish your responses to this PRI Reporting and Assessment tool?(Please check all that apply.) | Please automatically publish our responses to the reporting and assessment tool in full on the PRI website | |||||
| 89. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 6 here. Please also describe any significant activities relating to Principle 6 that have not been captured by the questions above. | NA | |||||
| Closing Comments | ||||||
| 90. Please describe the benefits you have enjoyed as a result of signing the PRI: | It is especially useful as a tool to benchmark our ESG investment policy | |||||
| 91. What has your organisation changed as a direct result of becoming a PRI signatory? | NA | |||||
| 92. Did the financial market turmoil of 2008 cause you to change your approach to the consideration of ESG factors or active ownership? If it did, please explain how. | No. The crisis just makes lear that ESG factors should have been taken into account much earlier. | |||||
| 93. What are the top three activities the PRI Secretariat could undertake to enhance and encourage further implementation of the PRI by current and prospective signatories? | ||||||
| 1. | The focus of the PRI seems somewhat skewed towards listed equity management, which for many investors such as ourselves is a minor part of their overall portfolios. What about other asset classes, in particular sovereign bonds ? | |||||
| 2. | The PRI seem to focus on issues internal to each asset class, e.g. how to compare companies with each other. For investors, asset allocation has a much greater impact than asset selection, so perhaps the PRI should deal more with how ESG issues impact asset allocation decisions ? | |||||
| 3. | We believe the PRI should deal more explicitly with potential conflicts of interest between purely financial and ESG considerations. None of the principles refer explicitly to this crucial dilemma. We stress that we do not have any dogmatic view on how an investor should deal with potential trade-offs, but we believe it is necessary to go one step further than measuring the financial impact of ESG criteria. For example, if there is a negative impact, how do you deal with it? | |||||
| 94. What are your top three PRI-related goals/priorities for 2009? | ||||||
| 1. | Publish a shorter, public version of the SRI report that was submitted to the Board of Trustees in March 2009. | |||||
| 2. | Adapt our SRI policy to two new asset classes : small cap listed equities and forests. | |||||
| 3. | Define a (direct) proxy voting and engagementpolicy. | |||||
| 95. What were your most significant achievements in 2008 in relation to your implementation of Principles? | ||||||
| Principle 1: We will incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes. | We finalized our framework for applying ESG ratings to sovereign bonds, which represent the vast majority of our portfolio. | |||||
| Principle 2: We will be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices. | We met twice a year with each external equity manager, discussing each of the portfolio companies which raised concerns, in particular discussing how these companies had provided them with credible explanations for allegations brought against them. | |||||
| Principle 3: We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest. | Public reporting by local authorities which bonds we invest in, is poor compared to the reporting of listed large-cap companies. We therefore wrote a letter to each of the 26 local authorities being rated from an ESG standpoint in 2008, asking them to particpate actively in the rating process. This letter was followed-up by a second letter in 2009 for poorly scoring issuers (mainly due to poor disclosure), and we will meet with one of them later in 2009. | |||||
| Principle 4: We will promote acceptance and implementation of the Principles within the investment industry. | In the request for proposal launched in 2008 for managers for two new asset classes (global equities and corporate bonds), the signing of the PRI was an explicit selection criterion for candidates. | |||||
| Principle 5: We will work together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the Principles. | We participated in two initiatives focusing on promoting research on SRI investing. | |||||
| Principle 6: We will each report on our activities and progress towards implementing the Principles. | On-going reports on the implementation of the SRI policy were provided to the SRI committee of the Board of Trustees. A full review was submitted to the Board of Trustees as a whole in March 2009, with a public report being disclosed later this year. | |||||
| 96. What were your biggest barriers in 2008 with relation to your implementation of the Principles? | ||||||
| Principle 1: We will incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes. | It is difficult to set up and follow clear, quantitave rules (e.g. best-in-class filters), when the issues dealt with are often complex, analysis often subjective, and information often unreliable. | |||||
| Principle 2: We will be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices. | The investment vehicles chosen for equity mandates ("dedicated" mutual funds - due to accounting considerations) do not legally allow us to specify our own voting policy if this is contrary to the voting policy of the asset managers. | |||||
| Principle 3: We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest. | Local authorities do not provide the same quantity and quality of ESG reporting as large listed corporations, making the rating of them more difficult. While we contacted 26 of them directly to ask them to answer the questions of our rating agencies, few actually accepted to do so. | |||||
| Principle 4: We will promote acceptance and implementation of the Principles within the investment industry. | This is not particularly difficult when it comes to our service providers. | |||||
| Principle 5: We will work together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the Principles. | We tend to focus on issues and asset classes which are not on the top of the agenda of most other investors, therefore finding investors to collaborate with is more difficult. | |||||
| Principle 6: We will each report on our activities and progress towards implementing the Principles. | Some information regarding the implementation of our SRI policy is confidential (e.g. the SRI performance of our individual managers) or highly sensible for a public sector fund such as ourselves (e.g. ESG ratings on public issuers such as local authorities or governments). | |||||
| 97. Please indicate which principle you find the most difficult to implement and the principle you find the least difficult to implement: | ||||||
| Most difficult | Principle 5 | |||||
| Least difficult | Principle 6 | |||||