The US roadmap makes recommendations in seven categories: investor education, corporate reporting, investment consultants, legal advice, stewardship, organizational process and disclosure and ERISA plan governance.

Investor Education

  • Trustee boards should ensure capacity and competence on ESG issues. This should be industry-led.

Corporate Reporting

  • The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) should update Regulation S-K to ensure high quality disclosure of ESG factors.
  • NASDAQ and NYSE should provide ESG reporting guidance for issuers.

Investment Consultants

  • Industry stakeholders should build on existing guidance to plan fiduciaries and trustees on the integration of ESG factors into investment consultant services.

Legal advice

  • Lawyers should ensure their institutional investor clients understand the legal risk arising from a lack of prudent management of ESG factors.

Stewardship and Engagement

  • The Department of Labor should withdraw the Shareholder Right’s Bulletin.
  • The SEC should provide updated guidance on collaborative engagement between shareholders.
  • The SEC should introduce universal proxy ballots.

Organisational process and disclosure

  • Institutional investors should work with advisors and consultants to produce best-in-class investment policy statements.
  • The Department of Labor should request disclosure of the extent to which pension plans incorporate long-term value drivers into investment decisions and relationships with service providers.

ERISA plan governance

  • The Department of Labor should conduct an industry study of the governance structures of corporate pension plans.

Produced in collaboration with UNEP FI and Generation Foundation

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