Sophie Robinson-Tillett

London

Contributing Writer at Investment & Pensions Europe

Beard stroking about green finance, responsible investment, ESG and sustainability since 2013. Former editor of Responsible Investor.

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Articles

Asset owners throw weight behind bond index aimed at driving decarbonisation

1 week ago | ipe.com | Sophie Robinson-Tillett

The United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSF) and Cambridge University have pledged up to $750m (€660m) to an upcoming bond index designed to drive corporate decarbonisation. Researchers at Cambridge University have spent the past two years designing the index with the support of a group of asset owners including the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS), the UK Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) and Swiss national pension fund, Publica.
Quarter of shareholders vote down BP’s chair amid strategy row

1 week ago | ipe.com | Sophie Robinson-Tillett

Nearly a quarter of BP’s shareholders voted against the reappointment of its chair today, in a major blow to the company. Helge Lund’s re-election split shareholders at BP’s annual meeting in London, with preliminary results showing 24% of investors either voted against it, or abstained. There are multiple drivers for the dip, one of which is frustration at BP’s recent decision to backtrack on its climate commitments without shareholder permission.
UK government names institutional investors backing new Transition Finance Council

1 week ago | ipe.com | Sophie Robinson-Tillett

IPE Membership IPE has created a suite of products and services for Europe’s institutional investment and pensions community.
New scenarios suggest investors must put more emphasis on physical climate risk

1 week ago | ipe.com | Sophie Robinson-Tillett

Investors are not taking the physical risks posed by climate change seriously enough, according to the latest scenario analysis. Maurits van Joolingen, director of climate scenarios and sustainability at Ortec Finance, says an “unexplained” jump in temperatures last year has highlighted the potential for physical risks to manifest more suddenly and immediately than many financial institutions currently assume.
Shareholder campaign on greening oil and gas suspended for a year

2 weeks ago | ipe.com | Sophie Robinson-Tillett

Climate campaign group Follow This has decided it would not land enough support to justify filing shareholder resolutions at oil and gas firms this year. The Dutch body, which uses the proxy voting process to ask fossil fuel companies to decarbonise, has announced it would take a year off – the first time since it started in 2016 – amid the growing pushback against ESG.
Allianz halves emissions from corporate portfolio

2 weeks ago | ipe.com | Sophie Robinson-Tillett

Günther Thallinger did not mince his words when he recently wrote about the financial risk a 3°C world would present to asset owners like Allianz. “Capitalism as we know it ceases to be viable,” said the chair of the German insurer’s investment board in a blog post. Extreme weather events and temperature rises will eventually hit all assets, he warned. “Heat and water destroy capital.
NBIM backs away from filing shareholder requests, according to AGM data

2 weeks ago | ipe.com | Sophie Robinson-Tillett

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) appears to have backed away from filing shareholder resolutions after just two years of such activity. According to the latest Proxy Preview report, which collates information about the requests shareholders are making at US annual meetings, there had been 355 ESG proposals filed by 21 February. For the first time since 2023, none of those resolutions has been submitted by the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund manager.
EU approves delays to sustainability laws

3 weeks ago | ipe.com | Sophie Robinson-Tillett

The European Parliament on Thursday agreed to delay the European Union’s sustainability reporting and due diligence rules. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted 531-69 in favour of a proposal to postpone the implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Under the proposal, companies in the second and third phase of CSRD’s roll-out will have an extra two years to comply with the law.
Delaware moves forward on changes to shareholder rights

4 weeks ago | ipe.com | Sophie Robinson-Tillett

Lawmakers in the US have just approved a controversial bill that will curtail the rights of public equity investors. The proposed change to Delaware law, known as SB 21, seeks to make the state more attractive to businesses with controlling shareholders – especially big tech firms that use dual-class share structures to give founders more decision-making power.
Drop in asset owners including responsible investment clauses manager contracts

1 month ago | ipe.com | Sophie Robinson-Tillett

The number of asset owners including responsible investment clauses in their management agreements has fallen over the past year, while scrutiny of proxy voting activities is on the rise. That’s according to new figures from the United Nations’-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), based on the reports of more than 3,000 of its signatories, representing nearly $90trn in combined assets under management.