Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, CalPERS and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan are among 11 institutional investors with a total of more than $6 trillion in assets that pledged to improve infrastructure investing in emerging and frontier markets, increase opportunities for women in the financial services industry and implement uniform disclosures on climate change.
"Climate change, gender inequality and the infrastructure gap are all significant global problems that need collective action and robust, practical solutions," said Ron Mock, president and CEO of the C$189.5 billion ($146 billion) OTPP, Toronto, in a joint news release issued Wednesday. "Institutional investors have the resources and the platform to make meaningful contributions in all of these areas."
He said the group is pleased that the initiatives align with the themes of the G-7 summit Friday and Saturday in Charlevoix, Quebec.
Among the group's initiatives, it plans to start an infrastructure fellowship program for senior public-sector infrastructure managers in targeted markets; raise diversity issues with other institutional investors and work with the CFA Institute to set an investments internship program for women college students in developing markets; and work with portfolio companies to encourage adoption of the climate change recommendations of the Financial Stability Board's Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures issued last June.
Along with Caisse, which manages C$298.5 billion in Quebec pension and other provincial assets, the $352.8 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento, and Ontario Teachers, the pension-related group members are:
- Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Toronto, which manages the assets of the C$356.1 billion Canada Pension Plan, Ottawa.
- PGGM, which manages €218 billion ($254 billion) in assets, including the €185 billion Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn, Zeist, Netherlands.
- C$95.7 billion Alberta Investment Management Corp., Edmonton, which manages Alberta pension and other assets.
- C$95 billion Ontario Municipal Employees' Retirement System, Toronto.
- OPTrust, which manages the assets of the C$20.3 billion Ontario Public Service Employees' Pension Plan, Toronto
The other group members are Allianz Group, Aviva, Generali Group and Natixis Investment Managers.
The Canadian government also pledged to follow the initiatives.
