A part of Watch Media

AMWatchFriday27 January 2023

  • Search
  • Log in
  • Fund Management
  • Pension
  • Responsible Investing
  • People
  • Search
  • Log in
  • Latest
  • Search
  • Log in
  • Fund Management
  • Pension
  • Responsible Investing
  • People
29/01/2018at 13:21

Survey: Which responsible investments do pension savers really want?

When it comes to responsible investments, climate is likely to be the main issue on the minds of pension savers, a survey reveals. AMWatch conducted the poll of 1,021 pensioners, in collaboration with Wilke, at a time when several Danish pension funds have just launched initiatives aimed at improving their green profiles.
Pension savers are very keen on responsible investments, such as investments in green energy. | Photo: EPFL
by SØREN RATHLOU TOP

Danish pension savers see climate change is the most important area within ​​responsible investment, according to a study by AMWatch done in collaboration with analytics firm Wilke.

In the survey, 28 percent of respondents rank climate as most important, while "good working conditions" (22.4 percent) and "combating social inequality" (18 percent) take second and third place.

Climate is the most important parameter for all age groups except the over 70s – individuals likely to be pensioners. Interest in the climate tends to fall with age, according to the survey results, with 18 to 29-year-olds rating climate as the most important area of responsible investment.

In Sweden, meanwhile, climate is also a subject that has occupied both pension savers and cash funds for a number of years, according to Johan Florén, Head of Communications and ESG at AP7.

Pensioners' prioritization of the climate does not surprise Karsten Beltoft, Deputy Director of the Danish Pension Funds Lobby Organization, Insurance & Pension Denmark:

"We have generally become more climate-oriented in our daily lives — and so I think that climate is the first thing many think about when talking about accountability and investment. The pension sector has been actively investing in and supporting the green changeover, and I also expect the climate to be a big deal in 2018. "

Pension funds implement climate initiatives

In 2017, both Sampension and Industriens Pension implemented initiatives focusing more on the climate in their investment strategies. At Sampension, everything the company invests in is investigated in order that it meets the standards of the climate agreement COP 21 in Paris, explains Søren Espersen, Communications and HR Director.

The purpose of the climate agreement is to keep the planet's temperature rise below two degrees celsius compared with 1850.

At Danish labor market pension fund Industriens Pension, which has about DKK 162 billion (EUR 22 billion) under management, all stock portfolios are screened to evaluate how much CO2 the companies emit compared to firms in the portfolio benchmark, Peter Lindegaard, Head of Listed Investments explains:

"And our portfolios emit 20-25 percent less than if they had been passive investments. We can see that our active managers often tend to invest more in companies with a green profile compared to a passive mandate, because they choose equities that have a future-oriented profile. "

Industriens Pension has not set specific targets for the difference between emissions from companies in its own equity portfolios compared to the benchmark.

The trend is the same for the industry's other players. According to a 2017 report by Dansif, a network forum of 38 professional investors, including pension funds, 41 percent measured the climate impact of their investments, up from 13 percent in 2015.

Survey: Pension savers have huge interest in responsible investments 

English Edit: Marie Honoré

Sign up for our newsletter

Stay ahead of development by receiving our newsletter on the latest sector knowledge.

!
Newsletter terms

Front page now

Pension firms can play a significant role to make companies more in a more sustainable direction, says SPP and Storebrand Head of Sustainability, Johanna Lundgren Gestlöf. | Photo: Jonas Eng
AMNews

Two more pension firms join the green club in Swedish sustainability rankings

Swedish unit-link insurance companies have undergone their annual sustainability assessment by insurance brokers, Söderberg & Partners. Several have moved up and down the rankings.
  • Alecta goes from amber to red in sustainability report
  • New sustainability report: Higher quality in fund offerings from Swedish unit-link insurance companies

For subscribers

Maunu Lehtimäki, CEO of Evli. | Foto: PR Evli.
AMWatch

Alternative sales grow and net flows start to stabilize at Finland's Evli

For subscribers

Speed is of the essence when launching new investment products, CFO Masih Yazdi says. | Foto: PR / SEB
Fund Management

SEB aims for speedy product launches to make up for huge AUM drop in 2022

For subscribers

Foto: Thomas Borberg/Ritzau Scanpix
Responsible Investing

Dane's equity holdings shrank by 9% in 2022

For subscribers

Foto: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix
AMNews

Investors are missing earnings data after 2022 IPO collapse

For subscribers

Karl C. W. Mathisen fills position as CEqO at Folketrygdfondet on Feb. 1. | Photo: Folketrygdfondet
People

Folketrygdfondet finds new head of equities in own ranks

For subscribers

Further reading

Storebrand Fonder CEO Åsa Wallenberg considers sustainability a guiding principle for the company. | Foto: Fredrik Hjerling
Fund Management

Storebrand Fonder provides more than three-quarters of Swedish fund inflow

The fund manager contributed the lion’s share of net inflow to the Swedish fund market last year – SEK 14.5bn of a SEK 19bn total. Sustainability is the key to the company’s investment policy.

For subscribers

Archive. Financial district Barcode in Bjørvika, Oslo. | Photo: Jörgen Skjelsbæk
Fund Management

Here is how Norwegian fund managers performed in 2022

Assets under management from Norwegian-registered fund managers fell by almost 8.2% in total in 2022, but differences among individual managers are vast.

For subscribers

Maunu Lehtimäki, CEO of Evli. | Foto: PR Evli.
AMWatch

Alternative sales grow and net flows start to stabilize at Finland's Evli

In 2022, the sales of Evli’s alternative investment products saw notable growth with fee income from this product range increasing by 50%. CEO Maunu Lehtimäki evaluates the company’s annual results.

For subscribers

Latest news

  • Two more pension firms join the green club in Swedish sustainability rankings – 16:01
  • Investors are missing earnings data after 2022 IPO collapse – 15:07
  • Dane's equity holdings shrank by 9% in 2022 – 14:48
  • SEB aims for speedy product launches to make up for huge AUM drop in 2022 – 10:42
  • Alternative sales grow and net flows start to stabilize at Finland's Evli – 10:27
  • Folketrygdfondet finds new head of equities in own ranks – 09:37
  • Global clean-energy investments match fossil fuel for the first time – 07:50
  • Here is how Norwegian fund managers performed in 2022 – 26 Jan
  • Morgan Stanley fines its bankers over messaging breaches – 26 Jan
  • Slight recovery in SEB’s AUM in fourth quarter – but outflow continues – 26 Jan
See all

Jobs

  • Porteføljemanager til danske ejendomme i PenSam

  • PenSam søger en jurist med interesse for den finansielle sektor

Watch Jobs

  • Regnskabs-/økonomichef

  • Jurister søges til Corporate Legal i Danmarks Eksport & Investeringsfond

  • Danske Rederier søger klimakonsulent til barselsvikariat

  • Salesforce-udvikler eller -arkitekt

  • Head of Business Development

See all jobs

Jobs

  • Porteføljemanager til danske ejendomme i PenSam

  • PenSam søger en jurist med interesse for den finansielle sektor

See all jobs

Colophon

AMWatch
Search

Sections

  • Fund Management
  • Pension
  • Responsible Investing
  • People
  • Sitemap
  • RSS feeds

Editor

Anne Louise Houmann

alh@amwatch.dk

Tel.: +45 2830 5142

Editor-in-chief

Anders Heering

Publisher

JP/Politiken Media Group Ltd

Advertising

annoncering@infowatch.dk

Tel.: +45 7077 7491

Advertising

Job Advertising

job@infowatch.dk

Tel.: +45 7077 7491

Jobs

Subscription

Try AMWatch or get an offer for a subscription meeting the exact needs of you or your company.

amwatch@infowatch.dk

Tel.: +45 7077 7491

Learn more about subscriptions here

Address

AMWatch

Rådhuspladsen 37

1785 Copenhagen K, Denmark

Tel.: +45 3330 8382

Guidelines

  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © AMWatch — All rights reserved

Microsoft is in the process of discontinuing Internet Explorer – and so are we.
For a better experience, we recommend using one of the following browsers.

Kind regards,
AMWatch

Google ChromeMozilla FirefoxMicrosoft Edge