UNITED NATIONS PRINCIPLES FOR RESPONSIBLE INVESTING AT SEGAL
Mar 12, 2008
On March 12, 2008, the CIBC Centre for Corporate Governance and Risk Management, in collaboration with the Shareholders Association for Research and Education, hosted a breakfast for 150 at SFU’s Segal Graduate School of Business, to hear representatives from three organizations speak about the UN-initiated Principles of Responsible Investing (PRI). The speaker panel consisted of Donald McDonald, a trustee with British Telecom Pension Plan; David Russell, Co-head of Responsible Investing for the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) in the UK; and James Gifford, Executive Director of the Principles for Responsible Investment. This public dialogue provided an opportunity for the investment and business communities, faculty, students, and experts to discuss some of the most pressing issues that face investors in a globalizing world, particularly large institutional investors. Particular attention was given to how investors must increasingly incorporate environmental, social and governance issues into their decision-making, especially as a way of controlling their own risk exposure.
The Segal Graduate School of Business also hosted the Secretariat of the PRI for their Board Meeting in Vancouver – the first time this international group has met outside New York and Geneva. Other events included an information session evening at the Business School with experts from the UN-PRI which was hosted by the bcIMC.
The Principles for Responsible Investment is an investor initiative in partnership with the United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI)_ and the UN Global Compact. The PRI were developed by an international group of institutional investors to reflect the increasing relevance of environmental, social, and corporate governance issues in investment practices. The UN-PRI signatories now include approximately 275 institutional investors with aggregated assets of over $11 trillion.
The Centre for Corporate Governance and Risk Management at Simon Fraser University’s Segal Graduate School of Business, is premised on the belief that good governance requires an enterprise-wide view of risk management. The Centre champions a multi-disciplinary approach that supports and promotes specialized and integrative research as well as advanced educational activities.
(front row left to right)
Donald McDonald, Chair of PRI and trustee of the British Telecom Pension Plan; Peter Chapman of Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE); Shannon Rohan of SHARE; Dr. Daniel Shapiro, Dean, SFU Business;
(top row, left to right)
James Gifford, Executive Director, UN- PRI; Brigid Barnett, Manager of Responsible Investing, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, David Russell, Co-Head of Responsible Investment for the Universities Superannuation Scheme; Robert Adamson, Executive Director, CIBC Centre for Corporate Governance and Risk Measurement
Contact:
Robert Adamson
Executive Director
CIBC Centre for Corporate Governance and Risk Management
778.772.5267