Below please find this week's news round-up.

Have a great weekend,

Nicole

Program Manager
The Intentional Endowments Network

2018 Information & Communications Technology Benchmark l Know The Chain

• The 40 ICT companies were assessed across the benchmark's seven themes, which were developed to capture the key areas where companies need to take action to eradicate forced labor from their supply chains: commitment; traceability and risk assessment; purchasing practices; recruitment; worker voice; monitoring; and remedy. There are a total of 23 indicators across the seven themes. For each theme, a company can score a total of 100 points.

Underwater: Rising Seas, Chronic Floods, and the Implications for US Coastal Real Estate l Union of Concerned Scientists

• This analysis looks at what's at risk for US coastal real estate from sea level rise—and the challenges and choices we face now and in the decades to come. 

New Energy Outlook 2018 l Bloomberg New Energy Finance

• Focused on the electricity system, BNEF's New Energy Outlook (NEO) is an annual long-term economic analysis of the world’s power sector out to 2050. NEO combines the expertise of over 65 market and technology specialists in 12 countries to provide a unique view of how the market will evolve. 

UK Pension Funds Get Green Light to Dump Fossil Fuel Investments l The Guardian

• Managers of the £1.5tn invested in Britain’s workplace pension schemes are to be given new powers to dump shares in oil, gas and coal companies in favor of long-term investment in green and “social impact” opportunities. Government proposals published on Monday are designed to give pension fund trustees more confidence to divest from environmentally damaging fossil fuels and put their cash in green alternatives if it meets their members’ wishes. 

Bloomberg Brief l Sustainable Finance

• This week's Bloomberg Brief highlights how batteries will attract $548 billion in investment by 2050, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said; Climate change is already hitting housing prices; Procter & Gamble pledged to hire more female directors for its commercials; Institutional investors are working to implement socially responsible strategies across their portfolios says Morgan Stanley's Rui DeFiguerdo.
  

84% of Investors Apply or Are Considering, ESG – Morgan Stanley l Pensions & Investments

• Eighty-four percent of asset owners globally are pursuing or considering ESG investing, said a survey released Monday by the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing and Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Among the 70% of owners who already are incorporating environmental, social and governance factors into their investment decisions, 60% began doing so in the past four years and 37% within the past two years.

68% of Institutional Investors Say Responsible Investing is Important – Aon Survey l Pensions & Investments

• Sixty-eight percent of institutional investors globally consider responsible investing important to their organization to some degree, said an Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting survey released Tuesday. A belief that incorporating ESG factors resulted in better investment decisions was cited as the most popular reason for ESG integration (39% of investors), followed by a desire to impact global issues (26%).

Ixo Foundation Brings Blockchain and Impact Investing Close Together l Hedge Week

• This article highlights a new foundation focused on using a blockchain protocol to track and measure impact investing has been created by Dr. Shaun Conway, a medical doctor and former adviser to the World Health Organisation.

Investing Sustainably Without Compromising Performance l Barron's

• In this Q&A article, Matt Patsky, CEO of Trillium Asset Management, discusses sustainable and impact investing—or investing with measurable social and environmental outcomes in addition to competitive financial returns—as well as recent Department of Labor guidance that said “fiduciaries of ERISA-covered plans must avoid too readily treating ESG issues as being economically relevant to any particular investment choice.” 

Allianz GI Vice-Chair Calls for a Common Language Around Impact Investing l Insurance Asset Risk

• In this article, Elizabeth Corley, Allianz Global Investors (GI) vice-chair and former CEO, discusses how to combat the inertia, confusion, and skepticism around impact investing, stakeholders looking for financial returns and those interested in non-financial returns have to find a common language.