June 1, 2017
By: Josh O’Kane
“Progressive and well-managed companies seek to attract and retain the best employees and many of them are women. To be competitive, companies need fair employment policies,” said Deb Abbey, the RIA’s chief executive. “While Canadian companies are laggards in this regard, we’re seeing more and more pressure on companies to pay equitable living wages to all of their employees.”
Read the full article here.
June 1, 2017
By: Kirthana Sasitharan
The majority of Canadian investors want pay equity among men and women in the workplace, according to a new study from the Responsible Investment Association (RIA).
The report, which was commissioned by OceanRock Investments Inc., indicates many Canadian investors feel women need to be treated better in the workplace and more women are needed in leadership roles.
“These findings demonstrate clearly that Canadian investors will no longer tolerate gender pay discrimination and want more gender diversity on corporate boards,” said OceanRock CEO Fred Pinto.
Read the full article here.
June 1, 2017
By: Barry Critchley
Gender diversity will be front and centre at the annual conference of the Responsible Investment Association, an organization that touts that “the integration of environmental, social and governance factors into the selection and management of investments can provide superior risk adjusted returns and positive societal impact.”
The delegates for the Vancouver conference, which takes place Thursday and Friday, will be armed with results from a poll of more than a thousand investors, which indicate equity owners are ahead of corporations when it comes to their belief in the value of gender diversity.
The online survey – which has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points – showed that 82 per cent of investors believe that “women should be better represented on corporate boards in Canada.”
Read the full article here.
May 23, 2017
By: Dustyn Lanz
“There is a broad consensus among governments globally that the world needs to transition to a low-carbon economy,” says Dustyn Lanz, chief operating officer of the Responsible Investment Association in Toronto. “As a result, investors need reliable, comparable data to make informed decisions about how companies are managing their exposure to climate-related risks.”
Read the full article here.
April 17, 2017
By: Dustyn Lanz
In his inaugural column for Investment Executive, the RIA’s COO Dustyn Lanz discusses the connections between responsible investment and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), highlighting how investors can align their portfolios with the SDGs. View the excerpt below and follow the link to read the full article.
Responsible investors key to global sustainable development
“There’s certainly a long way to go to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Ensuring a more sustainable, inclusive and prosperous world for all will require significant evolution in business practices alongside policy, financial and technological innovation. It will also require a tremendous amount of capital, which means responsible investors will play an essential role in the process.
The SDGs are already contributing to a proliferation of opportunities for investors to align their portfolios with sustainable development. With such a wide range of opportunities available, advisors who focus on RI are well positioned to serve the growing number of clients looking for investments that generate long-term value while contributing to positive societal change.”
Read the full article here.
March 2017
By: Financial Literacy
Many of us like to think we have a moral compass, but when it comes to our money — how can we be sure we’re investing it responsibly? With the help of the Responsible Investment Association’s Dustyn Lanz, we [Financial Literacy] explore the growing world of responsible investing to determine how to invest for the good of society and our wallets.
Read the full article here.
March 16, 2017
By: Brenda Bouw
“As this generation pays down its student debt, inherits money and builds wealth, responsible investing will continue to become more mainstream,” said Dustyn Lanz, senior director of communications and member affairs at the RIA.
Mr. Lanz said he’s getting a growing number of calls from the investment community, including advisers looking for more information on responsible investing.
“They say they’re learning more about responsible investing because their clients’ kids are asking about it,” says Mr. Lanz.
Read the full article here.
February 21, 2017
By: Deb Abbey
RIA CEO Deb Abbey has written a new column for Investment Executive on the growing need for sustainable business supply chains. Deb explains that “advisors and their clients stand to benefit when corporate leaders focus on building socially environmentally responsible enterprises”. See the excerpt below and follow the link to read the full article.
“For retail investors, it can seem impossible to be fully appraised of the full range of supply chain issues that can arise in an investment, let alone an entire portfolio. But that’s where investment advisors, fund companies and asset-management firms with the experience and accreditation to seek out and evaluate responsible investments can — and do — play a role.
Read the full article here.
February 3, 2017
By: Advisor.ca Staff
Canada’s responsible investment (RI) market is growing rapidly: as of December 31, 2015, there was $1.5 trillion in RI assets under management in Canada, according to an updated version of the Responsible Investment Association’s (RIA) 2016 trends report–that represents a 49% increase between 2013 and 2015.
Read the full article here.
February 2, 2017
By: BPM Magazine Staff
Total assets in responsible investment (RI) reached $1.51 trillion in Canada at the end of 2015, a 49 per cent increase from 2013, says Dustyn Lanz, senior director, communications and member affairs, at the Responsible Investment Association. Presenting the ‘Canadian Responsible Investment Trends Report,’ he said this means RI accounts for 38 per cent of total assets under management, up from 31 per cent in 2013. As well, 80 per cent of these assets are held by pension funds, which account for 75 per cent of the industry’s growth since 2013. Drivers of this growth include more investment manager engagement with RI and increased awareness of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) opportunities and risks.
Read the full article here.