Work in Europe if you want your pension to grow while doing good

London

THESE days, European asset managers' websites all seem to have a section devoted to ESG, providing their take on a range of Environmental, Social and Governance topics such as green energy and women on boards. Every mutual fund company has an ESG product, and every investment bank is rolling out ESG research.

Europe is the place to be if you want to do good while becoming richer. So what's driving its "responsible investing" revolution?

One group at the heart of it is the region's pension industry. Funds aren't only shunning tobacco or weapon stocks; they're also integrating ESG standards into the investment processes. Indeed, the most progressive funds seek to invest in companies that do good - a practice that some critics say edges dangerously close to philanthropy.

Europe had US$12 trillion in assets committed to sustainable and responsible strategies in 2016, the most among any region, said the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance. What's more, its 2016 total was a 40 per cent jump from its 2012 figure; the region's pension funds, with their massive assets, long-term horizons and government backing, have been a key driver, Bloomberg Intelligence said.

It's unsurprising that pension funds have such sway: The top 1,000 of them hold a total of 7.2 trillion euros (S$11.1 trillion) in assets, IPE Research data show.

Cedric Durant des Aulnois, chief executive officer at Montanaro Asset Management Ltd in London, said: "They have billions under management. As soon as they say something, all the asset managers listen." He reckons his company's ESG capabilities have helped it amass about a billion euros in mandates from pensions. "This is not a fad. It's a structural change."

There are a number of reasons for pension funds' growing focus on ESG. One is regulatory. Starting in January, changes in the European Union's so-called IORP II (the Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision directive) compel plans to cover ESG in risk management.

From October, new UK laws will require pension trustees to show how they account for ESG in their financially material considerations. There's also the sense that pension beneficiaries increasingly expect their trustees to combat climate change, for example.

The worry that adopting ESG will compromise returns has dissipated somewhat, that is, many asset managers see it as risk mitigation. Investing in clean energy contributes - however marginally - to reducing the risks of climate change. For that matter, a company with better governance might be less prone to a management scandal and also have lower staff turnover.

Piet Klop, senior adviser for responsible investment at PGGM, which manages Europe's third-largest pension fund from the Netherlands, said: "These are not non-financial factors; they are not-yet financial factors. Especially for long-term investors, taking externalities into account actually makes a whole lot of financial sense."

There is evidence supporting that. A 2015 study found that 90 per cent of studies saw a non-negative link between ESG and corporate financial performance, with a majority reporting positive results. The MSCI World ESG Leaders Index outperformed the MSCI World in 2018, though it trails in the five- and 10-year periods.

To be clear, the ESG revolution in Europe isn't complete. The Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands are more progressive than the rest of the continent. And while the giant funds are already proselytising about impact investing - which has the express purpose of achieving a social good - the smaller ones are still scrambling to assess their portfolios' ESG risks.

Pension funds beyond Europe have started to prioritise ESG. Japan's 165.6 trillion yen (S$2.03 trillion) Government Pension Investment Fund, the world's largest, has allocated billions of dollars to ESG through stock investments; the California Public Employees' Retirement System, the biggest US public pension fund, has pressured companies on executive pay, harassment, gun control and climate change through voting and engagement.

It's no wonder asset managers are rushing to promote their ESG credentials. But how do you win over a particularly conscientious pension when anyone can download an ESG rating set from MSCI? Here's advice from investors:

"Everyone's falling over themselves to extol their own ESG credentials, which is why trustees need to be very careful to actually understand the issues in more detail," Mr O'Brien said. "They need to get into the weeds with their managers: You say ESG is important to you? Give me some concrete examples of how you actually do this." BLOOMBERG