IPF årsrapport 2018 (eng) - Flipbook - Side 13
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11
Corporate social responsibility
Industriens Pension is responsible for
administering approximately 400,000 members’
pension savings. This is an important role and a
serious responsibility for the financial security of
many Danes, both as pensioners and before this
through insurance cover in the event of loss of
ability to work, critical illness and death.
Members’ savings are managed through
investments in the financial markets aiming at
good long-term returns.
Investments are in different types of assets in
listed and unlisted companies, properties, Danish
and foreign bonds, etc. Through its investments,
Industriens Pension has an interest in ensuring
that the relevant companies, states, etc. behave
responsibly.
STRENGTHENED EFFORTS IN 2018
In 2018, the Board of Directors adopted an updated
version of Industriens Pension's policy on
responsible investment. The new version contains
clear references to the OECD Guidelines for
Multinational Enterprises, which incorporate the UN
Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights
(UNGP), in accordance with the Danish Business
Authority's new guidelines on responsible
investment for institutional investors dated March
2018.
The updated policy reflects the approach to
responsible investments that has emerged after
discussions in Industriens Pension's committee on
responsible investment, as well as our interaction
with cooperation partners, peers in the pension
sector, as well as other stakeholders.
Even though our equity interests are usually
small, Industriens Pension has focus on being a
responsible investor and having the most possible
influence to live up to our corporate social
responsibility. This is by working with others, but
also by prioritising our own efforts where we can
achieve most.
The updated version combines policies and
guidelines for responsible investments and voting
policy in one overall “Policy on responsible
investment and active ownership”. The updated
policy also contains new separate guidelines for
taxation.
In our opinion, a company’s ability to manage the
environment, social conditions, and good
corporate governance can affect their ability to
add value and, in turn, investment returns for
Industriens Pension.
The updated policy clarifies Industriens Pension’s
expectations of the companies we invest in, and our
own due diligence procedures in accordance with
the OECD sector-specific recommendations for
Responsible Business Conduct for Institutional
Investors.
The aim for investments is to ensure the highest
possible long-term real returns after costs, while
also taking account of investment risk. Investing
responsibly and being an active investor protects
and increases returns and contributes to
sustainable social development. Our “Policy on
responsible investment and active ownership”
ensures that we take account of human rights,
employee rights, the environment and climate,
anti-corruption and taxation when we invest, and
that our investments do not contribute to activities
associated with weapons that contravene
conventions.
ESG rating of external managers
As a part of Industriens Pension's due diligence,
monitoring and follow-up of external managers, we
want to be able to identify and monitor
developments in the managers’ approach to
integrating ESG into the investment process.
With this in mind, an internal rating system was
introduced in 2018 on the basis of a questionnaire
on managers’ policies and practices for responsible
investment. Taking outset in the responses to the
questionnaire, external managers were graded for
integration of ESG in their investment process.