GLOBAL - PGGM and Nikko Asset Management, as well as French supplementary pension scheme ERAFP, have been recognised for their commitment to environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) at the IPE/TBLI ESG Leaders Awards in London.

The ceremony, held last night in London, also saw Sustainalytics win the award for Best ESG Consultancy/Research House.

Third-largest Dutch asset manager PGGM, part-owned by heath and welfare pension fund PFZW, was rewarded by judges Penny Shepherd of UKSIF, Davide Dal Maso of Vigeo's Italian SRI department, Angela de Wolff of ConSer and Axel Wilhelm of Sustainalytics for investing with conviction and transparency, winning the prize for Best Asset Manager Investing in ESG.

Paul Watchman, lawyer and co-author of the Freshfields Report, which is seen as the legal underpinning for the UN's Principles for Responsible Investment, was honoured for his outstanding contribution to the development of environmental and social investment.

Japan's Nikko Asset Management was hailed for its World Bank Green fund, which allows investors to buy the World Bank's environmentally friendly bonds, which invest in projects aimed at improving energy efficiency, as well reducing greenhouse gasses, while providing funding for the reforestation of the world's rainforests.

Finally ERAFP, the French civil servants pension scheme, was named the Best Investor in ESG.

The scheme, which drafted an SRI charter at its inception in 2005, employs a dedicated ESG research provider to monitor its investments.

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