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CIPFA has partnered with Isio to help local government pension funds assess and manage environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks.
The Investment Assessment Matrix uses five key assessment criteria to show LGPS fund managers how they can identify, integrate and manage ESG risks and opportunities in their mandates.
The five criteria are: investment approach and framework; risk management; voting and engagement; reporting; and collaboration.
The matrix reports the overall ESG capabilities for each mandate, highlights specific areas for improvement and proposes actions to inform targeted engagement with the underlying investment managers.
It also provides a numerical score assigned under each criteria, an overall ESG score and a separate climate rating score. These scores allow for aggregation to the portfolio level while aiding comparability across investment mandates and potential benchmarking of LGPS funds. The ability to track progress over time is also enabled.
Nicholas Harvey, Pensions and Treasury advisor at CIPFA, said: “CIPFA has a long tradition of providing support and thought leadership to public bodies, including LGPS Funds, and we believe this ESG Investment Assessment Matrix provides full alignment and transparency against the current and expected regulatory requirements.
“LGPS funds having access to a truly independent assessment of investment managers’ ESG capabilities, that sets out tangible actions, can only lead to improvements that will add value and allow benchmarking across funds. We hope this drives positive change through the industry and wider society.”
