Leading university ventures into ESG



Specialist research firm CAER has inked a deal with the Australian National University (ANU) to provide it with environmental, social and governance ratings and reports on companies within their portfolios.
The university runs a professionally staffed investment office (IO), which manages its financial assets and runs the day-to-day management of its funds.
It also prepares strategies and other asset allocation and investment policy papers for consideration by the university's governing bodies.
CAER will supply the reports for the IO.
"ANU recognises the importance an explicit socially responsible investment policy plays in communicating the broader corporate culture of the university to stakeholders," ANU investment director Mark Waldron said.
CAER CEO Duncan Paterson hopes more institutions will follow suit.
"Universities tend to have relatively progressive stakeholder groups, so it is not surprising that issues around environmental, social and governance are increasingly on the radar of university investment teams," said Paterson.
Recommended for you
The “experiment” away from vertical integration has been a mistake, according to Clime’s Michael Baragwanath, and Clime is positioning to benefit via advice and fund manager acquisitions.
JP Morgan Asset Management has identified Australia as an “emerging growth market” as it seeks to double its assets under management in the Asia-Pacific region in the next five years.
Australian Ethical funds under management were $14.3 billion at the end of September, with its investment division seeing inflows return after outflows in the previous quarter.
Record flows into iShares ETFs helped BlackRock’s assets under management reach US$13.5 trillion in the third quarter, but it reported outflows from the APAC region.