GAO-18-398 Retirement Plan Investing: Clearer Information on Consideration of Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors Would Be Helpful
Posted: 5 Jun 2018
Date Written: May 22, 2018
Abstract
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors have emerged as a way for investors, such as retirement plans, to capture information on potential risks and opportunities that may otherwise not be taken into account. For example, climate change is expected to have widespread impacts according to a key federal study and may pose significant financial risks for long term investors, such as retirement plans that must manage risk to provide benefits for many years to come. A number of large plans in other countries have adopted ESG strategies, but less is known about their use among U.S. plans. Given the emerging use of ESG factors, GAO was asked to examine how such factors are used by retirement plans in the United States and other countries. GAO examined: (1) the use of ESG factors by U.S. retirement plans, (2) the use of ESG factors by selected retirement plans in other countries, and (3) DOL’s guidance on the use of ESG factors by private sector U.S. retirement plans.
Keywords: Retirement Savings, ESG, Investment Management
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