SWEDEN - A joint socially responsible investing tender from four Swedish buffer funds (AP1, AP2, AP3 and AP4), with assets in excess of €80bn, has been awarded to GES Investment Services.
GES will provide ethical and environmental analysis and advice.
It was the first time that several buffer funds had joined to tender a mandate.
"This is an area where we can find that this is something we can do in common," an AP2 spokesperson had told IPE in July when the tender was issued.
"This is a typical question where we all sit in different offices and do the same thing. So this is a way of making it short and simple for all of us."
All four funds confirmed that GES Investment Services was chosen in the SRI tender.
The funds stated - in separately issued press releases - that "GES Investment Services' tender was considered to be the most financially attractive".
Furthermore, high-quality analysis of companies and advisory services were mentioned. Another main factor was GES Investment Services' geographic proximity and ability to communicate in Swedish.
Up until now the AP funds had awarded short-term contracts to various companies for SRI advice. For example, the First Swedish National Pension Fund (AP1) has used GES Investment Services in the past while AP2 had used International Investment Services (ISS).
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