There is a shift in the way investors are approaching responsible investing. ESG integration is fast becoming a norm; investors are increasingly wanting to go beyond and invest with impact. Asset owners wanting to allocate to impact funds face some distinct challenges, from education on “what impact they can have” to weeding out the impact washing that is still highly prevalent. At bfinance, we have been working closely with a range of institutional clients on addressing these challenges, including navigating their entry to the rapidly evolving product universes and expect investor demand to continue to grow in the coming years. The Impact Investing Principles, which we endorse, brings practicality to helping pensions schemes allocate their capital with people, planet and profit in mind.

We support the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions and commit to:

1. seek investment advice on an impact investing approach for our pension fund;
2. review environmental, social and governance impacts across our investment portfolio; and
3. consider available impact investment strategies.

We will be able to demonstrate action in one or several of these areas within six months of adopting the Principles and will recommit on an annual basis with evidence for how the Principles have been used.

The Principles ensure that we continue to advance and evolve our thinking on impact investing, making sure we get the topic on as many of our client's agendas as possible. By highlighting positive and negative impacts, we can bring impact alongside risk and return showing our clients this is an evolution of their existing investment approach.

As a fiduciary manager, the way we direct capital not only shapes the financial returns we can deliver for our pension scheme clients and their members but also the impact we have on the world. The way we invest is changing, driven by a fundamental shift in how companies are being viewed and valued. Where once we considered only risk and return, we now assess a third dimension – impact. We believe that considering these three pillars together can help us assess an asset’s real value and make better investment decisions for our clients. This is why we fully endorse the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions.

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management was pleased to become an adopter of the Impact Investing Principles and to further develop our relationship with Pensions for Purpose. Not only are the Principles themselves important, they are common sense, good practice, and express how we at Van Lanschot Kempen already think about impact specifically and investment more broadly: that it is worth doing, does not limit our capabilities or opportunities for our clients, and aligns our clients, managers and portfolios in an easily understood – and non-technical – way. It also builds naturally on the co-creation of our Global Impact Pool with our Dutch clients in 2018, and why we were pleased to include this as a case study with the Institute.

Responsible investing is core to our advice to clients as we believe it forms the basis of good investment decision making. Going further however, pension scheme trustees are increasingly looking to pursue positive impact whilst generating financial returns. Investing with the intention to contribute towards alleviating global social and environmental challenges is key to a future that members can retire into and we are keen to support pension schemes on this journey. We endorse and welcome the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions which set out a much-needed framework with practical steps in the evolving area of impact investing.

We support the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions and the market infrastructure around them, particularly by disseminating the principles internationally. We will work to encourage all our stakeholders, through the National Advisory Boards, to consider the impacts of their investments along with the opportunities that positive impact investments provide.

"The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries supports the work and efforts of the Impact Investing Institute and the development of impact investing. We support the development of the Impact Investing Four Good Governance Principles for Pension Schemes and the market infrastructure around them, particularly the enhancement of the metrics and frameworks for impact measurement, management and reporting. We encourage actuaries to consider the impacts of their investments along with the opportunities that positive impact investments provide.”

Andrew Lilley, Head of Responsible Investment Research at Isio and part of the ICSWG’s impact investing team, said: “Institutional interest in impact investing has increased dramatically, especially over recent years. However, we see a great diversity of approach in implementing impact frameworks as well as inconsistencies in impact reporting. The ICSWG supports initiatives such as the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions that aim to bring best practice guidelines and standardisation to impact investing.”

The Impact Investing Principles for Pensions provide a crucial foundation for re-defining investment and corporate success. Where financial return, environmental outcomes, and human value can be fully integrated within a mutually inclusive, stakeholder value system. The Principles are completely aligned with our own aims and objectives and we are excited that OMINDEX® can play its part to support them; to help demonstrate how true, total stakeholder value should be at the heart of organisational health. We hope our contribution will help to re-shape a financial services sector that authentically embeds Impact as a core, common purpose.

• We support the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions and will use our voice to promote and amplify the importance of the principles to our Members.
• We will encourage our Members to participate in, and report on, projects and engagement activity that can deliver impact.
• We will demonstrate the impact of what we do each year in The Investor Forum Annual Review.

We support the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions and the market infrastructure around them, particularly those in scope of our proposed financial system benchmark, including pension funds and asset managers. We will work to encourage these institutions to consider the impacts of their investments along with the opportunities that positive impact investments provide.