26 March 2019
PTL, the leading independent trustee and governance services provider, today urged
Trustees not to confuse ethical investment with Environmental, Social and Governance
(ESG) investing.
Richard Butcher, Managing Director at PTL, said: “ESG is about value not values. It is
about developing a set of filters to help trustees identify some of the long-term financial
risks within their investment portfolio. Having identified them they can mitigate them. In
other words, it is about trying to produce better investment returns, not making the world
a better place.
“Trustees have until October 2019 to set out their policy in relation to ESG. With this in
mind, it is no great surprise that more and more schemes are taking ESG in to account
when it comes to their investment decision making. It needs to be on every trustee’s
agenda.”
Butcher added; “Where ESG can really come in to play is perhaps in engaging younger
members who, as evidence suggest, are far more engaged with environmental, social
and governance issues. Schemes could use that interest to drive more appropriate
contribution levels and greater engagement.”
– ENDS –
