Increasing Long‐Term Market Returns: realising the potential of collective pension fund action

Abstract

This paper seeks to offer a perspective from two practitioners on how the potential for retirement fund collaboration to improve long-term market returns could be realised. After looking at the Universal Owner hypothesis and long-term market returns, and their relevance to pension funds, the paper looks at collaboration to date, and the problems of collective action in general. After outlining several current collaborative opportunities, the ways in which they address the problems of collective action are outlined. The paper ends with a call to action to the leaders of the world's largest pension funds. Copyright (c) 2007 The Authors; Journal compilation (c) 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The relative importance of ethics, environmental, social and governance criteria

“…Since the launch of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) in 2006, more researchers and practitioners have been using the term 'responsible investing' (e.g., Dembinski et al, 2003;Thamotheram and Wildsmith, 2007;Cadman, 2011). Whereas socially responsible investing is deemed more closely linked to a values-based approach, RI is seen to be more focussed on the evaluation of the long-term financial implications of the management of ESG risk in companies (EuroSIF, 2008:6).…”

The Origins and Meanings of Names Describing Investment Practices that Integrate a Consideration of ESG Issues in the Academic Literature

“…More recently emerging names include Responsible Investment (e.g. Dembinski et al 2003;Thamotheram and Wildsmith 2007;Viviers et al 2009) and Sustainability/Sustainable Investment (e.g. Weber 2005;Koellner et al 2007).…”

Towards a Model of Corporate and Social Stakeholder Engagement: Analyzing the Relations Between a French Mutual Bank and Its Members

“…They realize that their impact is magnified when they coordinate their actions as a rapidly rising form of socially driven shareholder activism via collaborative coalitions and networks demonstrates (Thamotheram and Wildsmith 2007). For Thamotheram and Wildsmith (2007), these stakeholders are in 'learning-by-doing process' in constructing new norms (MacLeod 2009). According to Sloan's models of stakeholder engagement (2009, p. 38), an inclusive engagement approach is needed to favor dialog whereby companies can modify their perceptions of stakeholders from being a source of risks to a source of opportunity.…”

“…These relational investors are increasingly aware that it is in their long-term interest to engage with management rather than simply to sell their shares (Hawley and Williams 2007;Bhagat et al 2004). They realize that their impact is magnified when they coordinate their actions as a rapidly rising form of socially driven shareholder activism via collaborative coalitions and networks demonstrates (Thamotheram and Wildsmith 2007). For Thamotheram and Wildsmith (2007), these stakeholders are in 'learning-by-doing process' in constructing new norms (MacLeod 2009).…”