Economy

Standish unveiled as latest UN Principles for Responsible Investment signatory

Published

12 years ago

December 19, 2012

Blue & Green Tomorrow

Standish Mellon Asset Management, a leading fixed income investment house headquartered in Boston, US, has become the latest signatory of the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).

The firm, which is a subsidiary of multinational financial services firm BNY Mellon and manages nearly $10 billion in socially responsible assets, joins sister boutiques Newton Investment Management, Insight Investment, and Meriten Investment Management as PRI signatories.

“Standish has long evaluated environmental, labour and management practices in its investment procedures”, said Desmond MacIntyre, chairman and chief executive officer of Standish.

“Becoming a signatory to the UN PRI further formalizes that process. We are looking to expand our corporate and sovereign research process to further consider these factors when allocating capital on behalf of our clients.”

The fourth of six principles for responsible investment states that signatories will “promote acceptance and implementation of the principles within the investment industry”. Indeed, there are asset owners and asset managers that are members.

If they’re not on the list, then they’re not signatories and you should probably ask why. If they are on the list, take a closer look at how seriously they report environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues.

“Consideration of ESG factors as long-term return drivers is not just for sustainable investment specialists anymore”, said Charles Dolan, chief investment strategist for fixed income, cash and currency for BNY Mellon Investment Management.

“Having several BNY Mellon investment boutiques as UN PRI signatories acknowledges our general respect for ESG factors as part of our overall focus on responsible investing.”

See Blue & Green Tomorrow’s National Ethical Investment Week edition of The Guide to Sustainable Investment for more information about the PRI, its signatories and its principles.