The OPSEU Pension Trust (OPTrust), one of Canada’s largest pension funds, has become a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).
Since its establishment in 2005, more than 700 PRI signatories have agreed that they “have a duty to act in the best long-term interests of our beneficiaries. We believe that environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues can affect the performance of investment portfolios.”
OPTrust adopted its own Statement of Responsible Investing Principles in March 2009.
The pension fund’s responsible investing program includes active proxy voting, integration of ESG considerations into investment decision making processes, and corporate engagement through various investor coalitions.
“Signing the PRI represents an important step in OPTrust’s continuing commitment to integrating environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) considerations into its investment activities,” says Morgan Eastman, Chief Investment Officer of OPTrust.
"We are delighted that OPTrust has signed the PRI”, says James Gifford, Executive Director, PRI. “This continues the strong momentum within responsible investment post-crisis. OPTrust's participation will add greatly to the PRI's Canadian activities and it has a lot to offer in terms of integration of ESG issues and active ownership within mainstream pension management.”
OPTrust has assets of $11 billion and administers the OPSEU Pension Plan, with more than 82,000 members.
More than 30 Canadian asset owners, investment managers and professional service companies have signed the PRI, including British Columbia Municipal Pension Plan, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Comité syndical national de retraite Bâtirente, Public Service Alliance of Canada Pension Fund, Fonds Desjardins, Meritas Financial Inc., Northwest & Ethical Investments LP, Sarona Asset Management, Vancity Investment Management, Corporate Knights Research Group, Groupe Investissement Responsible and the Shareholder Association for Research and Education.
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