GLOBAL - The United Nations' Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) initiative has unveiled its new governance structure, electing "non-asset owners" to its Advisory Council for the first time.
The council said this year's elections reflected its desire to broaden its governance structure - which, until now, has been dominated by asset owners.
Wolfgang Engshuber, chair of the Advisory Council, said: "The new governance structure marks a significant change for PRI, one that will benefit from the diverse representation of our asset owner, investment manager and service partner signatories in helping PRI realise its goals."
The council elected four non-asset owners: Paul Abberley, chief executive at Aviva Investors; Melissa Brown, a director at Responsible Research; Ann Byrne, chief executive at Australian Council of Superannuation Investors; and Luciane Ribeiro, executive officer at Santander Asset Management Brasil.
Else Bos, chief executive of investment at PFZW, and Priya Sara Mathur, chairman at CalPERS, were elected to the UNPRI council as asset owners.
Additionally, Sopawadee Lertmanaschai of the Government Pension Fund of Thailand, John Oliphant of the Government Employers Pension Fund of South Africa and Rene Sanda of PREVI were automatically selected in compliance with the rules around regional representation on the council.
The council now consists of 16 members: the chair; two UN representatives; nine asset owners from Europe, North America, Asia, Oceania, Africa and the Middle East and Latin America; two investment managers; and two professional service providers.
The PRI supports the view that environmental, social and corporate governance issues "can affect the performance of investment portfolios" and therefore "should be given appropriate consideration by investors", according to the UN.
Established in 2006, the PRI initiative promotes responsible investment through sharing best practice and fostering collaboration.
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