The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) has launched two new Made Simple guides on Impact Investing (written and sponsored by Hermes Investment Management) and Global Securities Fraud Litigation (written and sponsored by Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP).
The topical new guides were launched at the PLSA Investment Conference in Edinburgh last week and complement the PLSA’s existing library of essential resources. The free guides are designed to help pension funds and others in the pensions industry understand the basics of a variety of topics associated with running a pension scheme.
Impact investing refers to a method of investing which aims to achieve positive social and environmental impacts resulting from investments alongside financial returns1.
Securities fraud litigation is the legal process that pension funds can pursue should they be the victims of securities fraud.
Commenting on the new Made Simple guides, Julian Mund, Chief Executive of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, said:
“Pension fund trustees are likely to hear about impact investing and securities fraud litigation from their advisers but it’s not always clear what these terms mean. The purpose of the PLSA’s Made Simple guides is to explain these important and interesting subjects in plain English so that pension funds, and anyone interested in running a pension scheme, can understand the fundamentals.
“I’d like to thank Hermes Investment Management and Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP for their indispensable contribution to the PLSA’s Made Simple series of guides.”
Andrew Parry, Head of Sustainable Investing at Hermes Investment Management, who wrote the Impact Investing Made Simple guide, commented:
“Impact investing is now the fastest-growing area of responsible investment. The World Economic Forum estimates that $1 trillion of assets will be committed to impact investing by 2020, which means the sector is forecasted to grow by $250 billion annually.
“So there is clearly an opportunity to make a positive impact on people and the planet through investment, while also generating healthy returns for pension savers. This Made Simple guide introduces this growing area, the relevant UK regulations and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) driving this growth, and outlines how trustees could consider incorporating impact investments into their strategy.”
Mark Solomon, Partner at the US law firm Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, who wrote the Global Securities Fraud Litigation Made Simple guide, explained:
“The cost of financial misconduct can be significant to pension funds and ultimately their beneficiaries. Therefore it is important that schemes understand what securities fraud litigation is and how claims can be pursued, so that should they find themselves the victims of securities fraud they are in a position to make informed decisions on behalf of their members.
“The world's most advanced legal systems and deepest capital markets increasingly provide avenues for compensation for defrauded investors via securities fraud litigation which often is led by proactive pension funds and sometimes, although rarely, by their managers. This Made Simple guide is designed to help pension funds get to grips with some of the essentials of this increasingly hot topic.”
PDF versions of these ‘Made Simple’ guides are available to download FREE from the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association website. Printed copies will also be available and can be ordered online at www.plsa.co.uk (£18 for members and £35 for non-members).
-ENDS-
NOTES TO EDITORS
1 The PLSA was a member of the independent Advisory Group, chaired by Elizabeth Corley, looking at how to grow a culture of social impact investing in the UK.
PRESS CONTACTS
Lee Blackwell, Head of Media and PR, Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association
T: 020 7601 1726, M: 07713 073023, E: [email protected]
Kathryn Mortimer, Press Officer, Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association
T: 020 7601 1748, M: 07901 007713, E: [email protected]
Eleanor Carric, PR Manager, Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association
T: 020 7601 1718, M: 07825 171 446, E: [email protected]
ABOUT THE PENSIONS AND LIFETIME SAVINGS ASSOCIATION
We’re the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association; the national association with a ninety year history of helping pension professionals run better pension schemes. Our members include over 1,300 pension schemes with 20 million members and £1 trillion in assets, and over 400 businesses. They make us the voice for pensions and lifetime savings in Westminster, Whitehall and Brussels.
Our purpose is simple: to help everyone to achieve a better income in retirement. We work to get more money into retirement savings, to get more value out of those savings and to build the confidence and understanding of savers.
ABOUT HERMES INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
We are an asset manager with a difference. We believe that, while our primary purpose is helping beneficiaries retire better by providing world class active investment management and stewardship services, our role goes further. We believe we have a duty to deliver holistic returns – outcomes for our clients that go far beyond the financial and consider the impact our decisions have on society, the environment and the wider world.
Our goal is to help people invest better, retire better and create a better society for all.
We offer clients access to a broad range of specialist, high conviction investment teams with £33.0 billion* assets under management. In Hermes EOS, we have one of the industry’s leading engagement resource, advising on £336.1 billion* of assets.
Hermes' investment solutions include:
• Private markets – Infrastructure, private debt, private equity and real estate
• High active share equities - Asia, global emerging markets, Europe, US, global, and small and mid cap
• Credit - Absolute return, global high yield, multi strategy and global investment grade
• Multi asset - Multi asset inflation
• Stewardship – Active engagement, intelligent voting, sustainable development and advocacy
* Please note the total AUM figure includes £5.8bn of assets managed or under an advisory agreement by Hermes GPE LLP (“HGPE”), a joint venture between Hermes Fund Managers Limited ("HFM") and GPE Partner Limited. HGPE is an independent entity and not part of the Hermes group. £125.8m of total group AUM figure represents HFM mandates under advice. Source: Hermes as at 31 December 2017 with the exception of one portfolio totalling £9.9m valued as at 30 September 2017, and one portfolio totalling £2.7m valued as at 30 June 2017.
ABOUT ROBBINS GELLER RUDMAN & DOWD LLP
Robbins Geller is widely recognized as a leading law firm advising and representing U.S. and international investors in securities litigation and portfolio monitoring. With 200 lawyers in 10 offices, Robbins Geller has obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history. For the third consecutive year, the Firm ranked first in both the total amount recovered for investors and the number of shareholder class action recoveries in ISS's SCAS Top 50 Report. Robbins Geller attorneys have shaped the law in the areas of securities litigation and shareholder rights and have recovered tens of billions of dollars on behalf of the Firm’s clients. Robbins Geller not only secures recoveries for defrauded investors, it also implements significant corporate governance reforms, helping to improve the financial markets for investors worldwide. Please visit http://www.rgrdlaw.com for more information.