Responsible investment 2016

Main pillars

Standard setting

We aim to contribute to the development of standards and practices that will serve the longterm interests of the fund. Our principles, expectations and positions build on internationally recognised standards. We make submissions and prioritise corporate governance and sustainability topics in defined initiatives to contribute to improved disclosure, standards and practice development. Research increases understanding of factors that can affect future investment risk and return. We promote research to inform market standards and practices, data development and our own responsible investment priorities.

Ownership

We are an active owner and use our voting rights to safeguard the fund’s investments. This includes voting to promote sustainable development and good corporate governance. We aim to vote at every shareholder meeting. Information from our portfolio managers is integrated into our voting decisions. As a large, long-term investor, we engage directly with companies’ board and management. Our ownership efforts are based on our principles, expectations and positions. We emphasise governance and sustainability engagement topics we deem relevant and follow up on specific issues as they arise. Through our environmental investments, we dedicate capital to environmental technologies.

Risk management

We monitor and analyse risks from environmental, social and governance issues as part of our overall risk management. These efforts cover many topics that are also addressed through standard setting and ownership. Our approach means that we perform general assessments of topics and sectors on an ongoing basis, before going into specific issues in greater depth. To support this work, we emphasise development of high-quality data and corporate disclosure. We continue to enhance our databases of non-financial data. Risk assessments may lead to adjustments to the portfolio and divestments. Our divestments follow from the application of our integrated risk model.