Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund hired MSCI ESG Research to write a report for the 130.9 trillion yen (US$1.11 trillion) Tokyo-based pension fund on ESG integration and stewardship best practices among leading asset owners around the globe.
Tokihiko Shimizu, the Tokyo-based director general of the GPIF’s research department, said in a telephone interview that the MSCI analysis will be completed by the end of March.
The GPIF will use MSCI ESG Research’s analysis “on the impact of stewardship codes, corporate governance standards, and the integration of environmental, social and governance factors into the investment decision-making process” to guide the giant fund’s efforts to comply with the stewardship code — “the Principles for Responsible Institutional Investors” — adopted this year in Japan, an MSCI news release said.
The project will be the second MSCI has taken on this year for the world’s biggest pension fund, following a study it announced at the end of June regarding how the GPIF should integrate factor exposures in its asset allocation plans.
