Russell receives top honors at the Australian Sustainability Awards for sustainability research
Russell wins inaugural 'sustainability research' award for paper dispelling arguments against sustainable investing by super funds
Sydney, 3 December 2007 – Leading investment consultant Russell Investment Group won a Special Award for Sustainability Research at the 7th Australian Sustainability Awards held in Melbourne last Friday, 30 November 2007. Russell took the inaugural ‘Sustainable Research’ category for a paper that urges trustees of Australian superannuation (super) funds to embrace a more positive and practical approach to sustainable investing. The strong field of nominees for the award included leaders in the fields of academia, sustainability and investment and financial services, such as Citigroup and Goldman Sachs JB Were.
Written by Russell Director of Capital Markets Research, Scott Donald and Russell Analyst Nicholas Taylor, the paper entitled, “Sustainable Investing: Marrying Sustainability concerns with the quest for financial return for superannuation trustees” (August 2007), observes that Australian super fund trustees are coming under increasing public pressure to take sustainability (such as environmental, social and governance [ESG] factors) into account in their investment strategies. The research paper reviews longstanding impediments to sustainable investing - such as whether sustainable investment strategies constrain investment returns and compromise fiduciary responsibility - and suggests that new research and evolving market practices have removed these traditional roadblocks.
Mr Taylor commented on what he thought was so unique about the sustainable investing research. “The paper has been well received simply because many institutional investors are seeking to bridge what they felt they ought to do, and what the practical constraints of their roles permit them to do. Hopefully, they can now move onto how to implement these ideas in practical ways,” Mr Taylor said.
Mr Taylor further added that he believes that sustainable investing can be functionally integrated into existing investment management frameworks. “People are starting to recognise that sustainability doesn't have to be quarantined to one team, fund or part of your business. In fact, some would argue it can't be. It's just a smart way of identifying risks and opportunities,” Mr Taylor said.
Russell Director of Capital Markets Research, Scott Donald, highlighted the importance of the award to Russell’s ESG efforts. “We are delighted to receive recognition from our industry peers for our efforts in an area we feel is so important to the continued development and prosperity of the world community. We are seeing more and more evidence that our clients want to engage with sustainability issues. In many cases, they just weren't sure what they could do within the confines of being responsible, prudent fiduciaries. Our research was designed to help them deal with that maze,” Mr Donald said.
Stephen Roberts, Managing Director, Institutional Investment Services, commented on the importance that Russell places on this kind of research to advise clients adequately on emerging trends within an ever-changing investment landscape. “It’s great to be recognised by the industry in this area. We take ESG seriously, so our aim is always to deliver quality, robust research across all asset classes, as well as pertinent investment issues such as sustainability. We all have a grave challenge to move towards a more sustainable investment world. We view this kind of research as a critical part of our role as a trusted adviser to our clients. Research, after all, is at the foundation of everything we do,” Mr Roberts said.
Ethical Investor Magazine Editor Michael Walsh said that the sustainability research award recognises the development of new research in Australia, which explores the link between sustainability and investment factors. "Released only in August, the judges felt this study was an insightful, wellconstructed, nicely written and well-referenced literature review that could have single-handedly debunked any residual concerns around the merits of sustainable investment and could fundamentally change how Australian superannuation trustees now tackle this subject,” Mr Walsh stated.
The 7th Australian Sustainability Awards was presented by Ethical Investor Magazine and held at Zinc at Federation Square, Melbourne, on Friday, November 30 2007. The inaugural ‘Sustainability Research’ category was sponsored by UniSuper.
The full research paper “Sustainable Investing: Marrying Sustainability Concerns with the Quest for Financial Return for Superannuation Trustee” (August 2007) is available by contacting the director of sales or client representative on 02 9229 5111. Accompanying Russell Forum Papers are also available upon request.
Russell Investment Group is a global firm offering investors a full range of tailored consulting and outsourced solutions. Russell’s investment programs provide a manager-of-manager approach based on a research-driven evaluation of outside money managers. A leader in global investment strategy, Russell advises clients on more than A$2.5 trillion in assets and delivers investment programs to more than 2,800 institutional clients in 44 countries. Russell manages approximately A$250 billion in assets in a variety of multi-manager funds. Founded in 1936, Russell is a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual and is headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, USA with additional offices in New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Tokyo and Johannesburg.