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Managers and funds as PRI Awards finalists

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The Principles for Responsible Investment organisation annual awards will be announced at the PRI Digital Conference next week, October 18-21.

The conference and awards will provide a suitable opening act for the COP26 meetings to be held in Glasgow in the first week of November, arguably the most important climate change event in several years.

Finalists in each of the five PRI awards categories were announced last month. The two super funds in the running, in separate categories, are NZ Super for ‘Stewardship Initiative of the Year’, and Unisuper for ‘Real-world Impact Initiative of the Year’.

  • Big US-based managers dominated the ‘ESG Incorporation Initiative of the Year’ category with finalists J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Rockefeller Asset Management, Acadian Asset Management and GMO all US headquartered. BNP Paribas Asset Management is also in the running as the only non-US manager.

    In the ‘ESG Research Innovation of the Year’ category, a collaboration between global manager Ninety One and the World Wildlife Foundation has been shortlisted alongside global manager Insight Investment (a BNY Mellon company), Sustainalytics (a specialist ESG research subsidiary of Morningstar) and MioTech, an artificial intelligence startup backed by Singapore’s GIC.

    The Ninety One/WWF shortlisted project is the Climate and Nature Sovereign Risk Index, which was launched last year with the aim to harness the potential of the US$50 trillion sovereign debt market to support countries in their sustainable transition.

    The benchmark encourages governments to seek green investment packages in order to make foreign investment and sovereign lending more attractive over the long term.

    Australia, India, Portugal, Greece and the Gulf Cooperation Council are countries identified by the index as having the most to benefit from a green recovery.

    Ninety One and the WWF have collaborated before in the interests of improving sustainability in the fixed income market. They produced a joint report in 2019, ‘Satellites and Sustainability’ which highlighted the critical role of sovereign debt investors in sustainability.

    The KEHATI Foundation of Indonesia, which promotes biodiversity, is the only organisation to have been shortlisted in two categories, for the ‘Real-world Impact Initiative of the Year’ and the ‘Emerging Markets Initiative of the Year’, both for the same project.

    The nominated project, SRI KEHATI, is also an index, launched in 2009 with the Indonesian Stock Exchange. The foundation’s aim is to “create mutualism between the world of conservation and the business sector”.

    The finalists in each category for 2021 are:

    ESG incorporation initiative of the year

    Shortlisted projectsSubmitted by
    ESG Improvers – an alpha enhancing factorRockefeller Asset Management
    ESG Integration, Investment-Led, Expert-DriveJ.P. Morgan Asset Management
    Green-leader or gree-washer? Using AI to prioritize company engagementsAcadian Asset Management
    Inclusive GrowthBNP Paribas Asset Management
    Integrating macro ESG metrics into emerging market sovereign debt investingGrantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo
    & Co. LLC

    ESG research innovation of the year

    Shortlisted projectsSubmitted by
    Climate & Nature Sovereign Index: WWF & Ninety OneNinety One, WWF
    Incorporating Remote Sensing Data to ESG and
    Alternative Risk Monitoring
    MioTech
    Prime Climate Risk RatingsInsight Investment
    Sustainalytics – 10 for 2021 – Investing in the Circular Food EconomySustainalytics

    Stewardship initiative of the year

    Shortlisted projectsSubmitted by
    Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment (CCRI)Willis Towers Watson
    Collaborative engagement against the construction of Vung Ang 2 coal-fired power plantNordea Asset Management
    Collaborative engagement with the social media companiesNZ Super Fund
    Reconciliation and Responsible Investment InitiativeShareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE), National Aboriginal Trust Officers Association (NATOA) – both Canadian
    Satellite-based engagement towards no-deforestationACTIAM

    Real-world impact initiative of the year

    Shortlisted projectsSubmitted by
    Norsad FinanceNorsad Finance
    Novaxia RNovaxia Investissement
    “Preserve, Strengthen, Rebuild” Covid-19 ResponseCDC Group
    SRI KEHATIKEHATI Foundation
    UniSupers Sustainable Path to 2050UniSuper

    Emerging markets initiative of the year
    Shortlisted projectsSubmitted by
    Democratising ESG Investing: All-in-one Digital PlatformCrea8 Capital, Cammillion
    Fixed income incorporation of Southern Asset ManagementChina Southern Asset Management
    Harvest ESG Scoring System and its application advancing sustainable investmentHarvest Fund Management Co., Ltd
    Norsad FinanceNorsad Finance
    SRI KEHATIKEHATI Foundation

    Registrations for the PRI Annual Conference and other information on: https://digitalconference.unpri.org/pri/

    Greg Bright

    Greg has worked in financial services-related media for more than 30 years. He has launched dozens of financial titles, including Super Review, Top1000Funds.com and Investor Strategy News, of which he is the former editor.




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