All Technical guide articles – Page 2
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Technical guide
Consultant’s organisational approach
The previous sections of this report have focused on the advice on ESG matters that investment consultants provide to their asset owner clients and the questions that asset owners should ask on the subject. This section focuses on the investment consultant’s own organisational approach to responsible investment. That is, ...
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Technical guide
Step 5 - Appointment
Asset owners will want to formalise commitments from investment managers through contracts or side letters to existing contracts. In addition to standard commercial terms, specific provisions related to ESG objectives and reporting can be included to ensure adequate delivery of services.
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Technical guide
Step 4 - Screening and shortlist
The asset owner reviews responses to the RFP to select managers that best fit the investment mandate. Specific weight should be assigned to investment beliefs and ESG skills in investment manager appointment decisions. Attention should be paid to aligning timeframes through fees and pay structures, ensuring that ESG issues are ...
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Technical guide
Step 3 - Requests for proposal
The asset owner will develop the requests for proposal (RFP) document, aligned with the original mandate text. Clear descriptions of the required capabilities will help collect information to enable the asset owner to review and compare the suitability of managers.
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Technical guide
Step 2 - Research and long-lists
Asset owners need to identify a pool of investment managers who meet the requirements described in the mandate. In doing so, the asset owner will review and rank the investment beliefs and capabilities of individual managers, including on aspects such as investment philosophy, investment process, risk management, governance, product range ...
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Technical guide
Step 1 - Mandate formation
Asset owners should define the types of mandate that fit their requirements and ensure that those investment mandates align the investment managers’ approach with the asset owners’ investment principles and strategies. In forming mandates, the asset owner should emphasise the ESG capabilities required to successfully deliver on the mandate. ESG ...
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Technical guide
Step 4 - Investment policy and governance
Asset owners need to ensure that they have the necessary resources, expertise and processes in place to implement the strategy. They will typically codify their investment strategy in relation to their investment decision-making process, asset allocation, ESG incorporation, active ownership, manager selection and monitoring criteria through an investment policy. Some ...
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Technical guide
Step 3 - Strategy formulation
Asset owners need to decide how they are going to implement their investment principles in their asset allocation and risk management processes, and in their reporting.7 To do this, they need to define their ambitions (e.g. on financial return, risk appetite and ESG considerations) over an appropriate timeframe, and establish ...
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Technical guide
Step 2 – Investment principles and beliefs
Asset owners need to define investment principles to set the direction for their investment policy, investment practice and organisational culture. These principles help define how the asset owner will create investment value in the context of future uncertainty, risk and opportunity. They also help asset owners make practical decisions about ...
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Technical guideInvestment consultants and ESG: an asset owner guide
Investment consultants advise on how trillions of dollars are invested worldwide, but most consultants are failing to consider the role that ESG issues play in investment performance.
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Technical guide
Investment strategy
An asset owner’s overall investment process starts with crafting an investment strategy. Asset owners will aim to set out a clear and explicit investment strategy that comprehensively considers: A. the full range of short-term and long-term return factors (e.g. social, technological, economic, environmental and political/regulatory) affecting their portfolios; 5 B. ...
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Technical guide
Manager selection
Manager selection is a core component of most asset owners’ investment process. Investment managers should either act in accordance with an asset owner’s investment preferences (if running a separate client account) or offer funds that can fit within the asset owner’s investment preferences, potentially in combination with others. Selections require ...
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Technical guide
Step 1 – Fiduciary obligations
Asset owners and their fiduciaries need to understand and clarify the legal obligations towards their beneficiaries. These include fiduciary, ownership and other investor duties which, among other things, set out minimum standards for how ESG factors should be appropriately considered in setting an investment strategy. The asset owner should be ...
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Technical guide
ESG integration in Asia Pacific: markets, practices and data
Portfolio managers and analysts are increasingly incorporating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in their investment analyses and processes.
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Technical guide
Responsible investment in forestry
Forestry investors are exposed to a range of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. How those factors impact investments – ultimately, whether they materialise as risks or opportunities for value creation – depends largely on an investor’s responsible investment approach.
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Technical guide
ESG factors in forestry investing
Forestry investors must consider a range of ESG issues for both direct and indirect investments. Such issues may present material risks to forestry operations and the success of an investment if managed improperly.
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Technical guide
Next steps: the future of forestry investing
The future of responsible forestry investing depends on how successfully the asset class can feature in the mainstream debates that are likely to shape the responsible investment universe in the coming years. Important questions to consider include:
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Technical guide
Achieving the SDGs through forestry investing
In addition to climate impact, the strategies highlighted in the previous section also have an explicit focus on the broader tenets of sustainable development, and the involvement of local communities.
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Technical guide
Forestry as a climate investment
Beyond looking at ESG consideration from a risk and opportunity perspective, forestry investors and managers are increasingly seeking to generate positive impact in addition to market returns, particularly regarding issues such as climate change those related to the SDGs.
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Technical guide
Integrating ESG factors in the forestry investment process
The consideration of ESG issues should be an integral part of the forestry investment process, taking into account the long-term nature of forestry investing and the different stages of a forestry investment’s lifecycle.
