UK - Mercer says it will rate all investment managers in its databases on how they integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into mainstream investment processes.
The company says it has expanded its research by including ESG questions in its global investment management database "for the firm-wide and strategy level".
The screening process will result in a rating of specific strategies and ESG integration capabilities, following which managers will be told where further ESG research might be justified.
The rating is a response to institutional investors' increased interest in how managers' respond to ESG concerns.
"For Mercer to take this step sends a clear signal to managers and owners alike," commented Danyelle Guyatt, principal in Mercer's responsible investment team. "Not only do we believe that ESG factors are important, but our clients, some of the largest asset owners in the world, do too."
Elsewhere, a group of 52 leading investors, including a number of US pension funds, asset managers and institutional investors, have called on the US Senate to enact federal legislation to curb greenhouse gas emissions by at least 60-90% below 1990 levels by 2050.
The group aims to tackle uncertainly over climate policy and a lack of federal regulations that it says prevents companies from making large-scale capital investments in clean energy and other low-carbon technologies.
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