21. Transparency of Sustainable Investments Erol Bilecen
CSR-Management, Raiffeisen Switzerland
Credibility is a crucial requirement for institutional investors. In the case of a pension fund, for example, every member ultimately wants to ensure that his or her pension assets are managed responsibly. Here, transparency helps to create credibility and thereby builds trust. As far as purely financial aspects are concerned, credibility is already supported by regulation and auditing. When it comes to sustainability factors, however, the field is still wide open—even though there are initial European developments towards formalising these aspects, such as in France and the Netherlands as detailed next (see also chapter 5 on regulatory issues). The most effective way to promote transparency in relation to responsible investment is to document concrete actions that follow stated intentions.
Publication of the Sustainable Investment Policy For institutional investors, it therefore makes sense to consider precisely how to guarantee transparency even in the initial stages of drafting a sustainable investment policy. The first and easiest step is to publish this investment policy—for example, on the website, in the annual report, or in an image or information brochure. As with every form of communication, the choice obviously depends on the target audience. In the case of a pension fund, the primary addressees are the fund beneficiaries, whereas in the case of a foundation the audience is mainly the public as well as existing and potential donors. Apart from being informed about the actual existence of such a policy, target groups may also be particularly interested in the reasons for its adoption. In the two examples provided above, this may be for financial reasons (e.g., risk mitigation) or ethical motivations, such as a foundation wanting to avoid a controversial investment clashing with its original purpose.
Transparency of the Portfolio Sustainability Having defined the objective of the sustainable investment policy, more information on its actual implementation is naturally required. In this context, it is important that the information goes beyond the purely financial dimension (“Our sustainable investments have grown in value by x percent”)
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