Ten Strategies for Pension Funds to Better Serve Their Beneficiaries

Abstract

For two days in June 2013 over 80 board members, senior executives and investment professionals from 40 pension organizations in 12 different countries gathered at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. The purpose was to examine and discuss five action steps investment institutions could take for the good of their own beneficiaries that would at the same time promote “the greater good” by fostering a more sustainable form of capitalism. Another action call was to design and implement concentrated, long horizon investment mandates that require constructive investor engagement. The workshop was organized by the Rotman International Centre for Pension Management (ICPM) and Generation Foundation, which is funded by Generation Management founded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and investment banker David Blood. The focus point for the workshop was a White Paper from Generation Foundation on “sustainable capitalism.” Gore kicked off the workshop with a review of the key messages from the White Paper. The outcomes of the workshop include ten strategies for pension funds to better serve their beneficiaries.

Keywords: sustainable capitalism, stranded assets, quarterly earnings, integrated reporting, executive compensation structures, constructive investor behavior