投资者将如何对DOL的新ESG指南作出反应

For Amy O’Brien, head of responsible investment at $639 billion TIAA-CREF Asset Management, 2016 could be a very busy year. She predicts a rise in环境的and social investingoptions for retirement plan clients to meet pent-up demand, with new guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor playing a big role in the shift.

这guidance “has increased the comfort factor for plan fiduciaries to engage further on this topic and explore possible strategies” in sustainable investing, says O’Brien, whose New York–based firm manages assets for more than 16,000 institutional investors, including many U.S. universities and colleges.

Rather than conveying a rule change, an interpretive bulletin issued by the DoL in October reframes the agency’s stance on how pension funds governed by the员工退休收入保障法案（Erisa）在投资时，可以合法地考虑环境，社会和治理（ESG）因素。无论这一指导是否都会鼓励新的参与者整合ESG - 或者只是验证那些已经做的投资者 - 仍有待观察。

这DOL公告强调“信托人不需要对待商业合理的投资，本身怀疑。。。仅仅因为他们考虑了环境，社会或其他这些因素，“这可能会与计划投资的经济价值直接关系。”相比之下，2008年指导它取代了警告，考虑非金融因素应该是“罕见”的。

DOL副助理秘书和最近的公报的作者蒂莫西Hauser表示，他希望它将扭转可持续投资策略的“寒冷效果”。2008年，“有些人担心一些信托人正在将计划的利益抵制了与参与者的财务利益的社会目标的利益”，“Hauser解释道。美国商会和其他业务团体是那些为2008年语言开放的商会，他补充说：“这是我认为药物比问题更糟糕的那些情况之一。”

U.S.-managed assets with some form of ESG filter totaled $4.86 trillion in 2014, a threefold increase from $1.59 trillion in 2005, according to the Washington-based U.S. SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment. The growth is formidable, but one of Hauser’s co-authors wonders if the 2008 directive might have dampened it. “Just as the market was escalating, we put out guidance that seemed to send the message that, as [Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez] has said, ‘These products have cooties,’” says Judy Mares, another DoL deputy assistant secretary.

术语“ESG”和“可持续投资”可能是新的，但今年的公告涵盖了DOL的老地面。现在讨论ESG的作用在辩论中有关Erisa Union Pension基金是否可以合法投资联盟建设项目的辩论。在20世纪70年代末，DOL官员从信托法中取得了建立了一切相同的考验，这据说，如果两项投资有相当的风险回报档案，则为信托人可能会考虑一个成为一个纠纷的社会福利。1994年，这种立场是在主题的第一个解释公告中官方作出官方。在可持续投资增长后，2008年促进谨慎的言论，最新的指导恢复了1994年的职位。

从技术上讲，Erisa和所有DOL Brontrins都源于它仅适用于私人养老基金，包括多发电算者或Taft-Hartley计划。但国家计划和其他人来看看联邦法律进行最佳做法 - 特别是在加利福尼亚州和其他国家从埃里萨语言制定养老金立法。

Ian Lanoff是华盛顿的新郎法律集团的校长，他曾担任佛罗里达州行政委员会，新墨西哥教育退休委员会，纽约国家共同基金，俄亥俄州公共雇员退休系统等，says several of his clients have called to ask him about the implications of the DoL’s new notice, but he’s yet to hear from plans long resistant to ESG that are now ready to dive in.

不过，Lanoff目睹了其他效果。他说，该指导使国家资金与已经运行ESG策略的策略已经运行了他们的方法。“他们被批评了，现在他们可以指出劳工处裁决，”Lanoff Notes。“Taft-Hartleys甚至公司资金是否会更倾向于使用ESG，我们不会知道一两年，我不这么认为。”

加州教师退休的1880亿美元ment System welcomes the change. “As CalSTRS has long believed that environmental, social and governance issues present risk to our portfolio, we support the DoL’s language,” says CIO Christopher Ailman.

Jamie Henn, a co-founder of fossil fuel divestment campaign 350.org, sees an opportunity to influence retirement plans’ thinking. “This could be a game changer for divestment campaigns that are targeting large pension funds,” New York–based Henn tells亚博赞助欧冠。“这些新的指导方针明确说明道德考虑与信托义务完全兼容。”

而不是推测新的指导是否会推动较广泛的ESG摄取，纽约的ESG和影响投资的纽约·萨克斯资产管理，争夺更有趣的发展是他的产业的角落推动的事实DOL回应。

“I think the question ‘How do my investments line up with my broader sense of values?’ is a question that’s here to stay,” Lawson says: “I don’t think this is just a passing fad or the province of some narrow portion of the market. I think the DoL’s change in tone is just a sign of the times.”