Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) factors have become a critical consideration in pension scheme management. This includes the investment of pension funds as well as the governance arrangements of the scheme itself.

From an investment perspective, pension schemes must carefully consider long-term risks and the sustainability of investee entities. Against a backdrop of increasingly extreme climatic conditions, pension investors must consider the potential impairment of assets from physical hazards such as floods and wildfires, as well as climate transition risks relating to businesses and infrastructure. They must be aware of key trends and new sources of risk as global economies migrate to lower carbon business models.

From the perspective of the governance of pension schemes themselves, the fiduciary duty of Trustees to protect the long-term interests of members must be upheld, including having robust risk governance structures and processes in place. Stakeholders increasingly expect that investor firms will have strong governance structures as well as acceptable environmental and social credentials.

Course Objectives

On completion, you will be able to:

• Identify the key environmental, social and governance factors in pension scheme management
• Appreciate the longer-term nature of the risks presented to pension scheme investments by ESG factors
• Assimilate the types of risks presented by climate change and other environmental factors
• Understand the nature of the social issues that must be managed by pension schemes
• Identify the key elements of robust governance expected of pension scheme investee entities and within pension scheme organisations themselves
• Appreciate the pivotal role of the Investment Policy Statement in setting the ESG tone for pension scheme investment portfolios

Key Topics

• Localised and global environmental risk factors
• Expectations for socially responsible investment aligned with UN SDG goals
• Governance issues relating to investee entities and within pension schemes themselves

All courses will be conducted entirely in English. A proficient level of both spoken and written English is required by all delegates so that they are able to fully benefit from the course and participate in our interactive style of training.