Environmental, social and governance guide for pension fund
Genesis, in association with Delsus Limited (UK), was contracted by the International Finance Corporation to support the mainstream uptake of sustainable investment practices in South Africa as part of the Sustainable Returns for Pensions and Society project.
This project was to support the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities at several levels. This applied to investment strategy and portfolio construction, to active ownership and reporting to beneficiaries, and across the full range of asset classes.
The Sustainable Returns project involved the pension, asset management, and actuarial industries to bring along the whole sector to start to implement ESG criteria into lending practices.
It was particularly aimed at empowering pension-funds trustees with education, tools and case studies, as well as pertinent-question frameworks with the purpose of engaging asset managers and corporates about ESG.
The project led to the co-drafting by Genesis of the Responsible Investment and Ownership – A Guide for Pension Funds in South Africa”. which became the official handbook for integrating ESG across the pensions industry.