Economy

Eurosif and national counterparts launch third SRI Transparency Code

Published

13 years ago

February 22, 2013

Blue & Green Tomorrow

The European Sustainable Investment Forum (Eurosif) has teamed up with its eight national counterparts to launch the third European SRI Transparency Code, which it says will improve accountability and clarity for responsible investors across the continent.

Funds that sign up to the code – of which there are over 500 in Europe – must ensure their asset managers are open and honest, and disclose “accurate, adequate and timely information to enable stakeholders, in particular retail investors, to understand the policies and practices of a given SRI fund.”

The original code was introduced in 2008 and the third instalment presents signatories with a more succinct document that makes comparing SRI funds easy.

“This new version of the code brings some clear benefits in terms of clarity, comprehensiveness and conciseness of the information brought to investors”, said François Passant, Eurosif executive director.

“Building on the past success of the code, we intend to further increase its adoption and promote it as best practice for any SRI fund publicly available in Europe.”

Signatories from the UK include Ecclesiastical, Jupiter, F&C and Standard Life. Penny Shepherd, chief executive of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF), said, “UKSIF and the Ethical Investment Association have always been strong supporters of the European SRI Transparency Code.

“It is good to see the launch of the new version and we hope that existing fund manager signatories will now update their disclosures using this. It is also a good time for further fund managers to consider whether to become signatories.”