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UNITED NATIONS Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) says it will work with Institute for Sustainability Africa (INSAF) in engaging local pension funds in educating them on how they can invest responsibly.In an interview PRI Southern Africa Network manager Xolisa Dhlamini told Business Chronicle that they want to engage local pension funds on how they could develop their communities and the economy as a whole.
“We want to engage the pension funds sector to ensure that they partake in community development and invest responsibly in the growth of the economy by funding and investing in different government and private initiatives,” he said.
Dhlamini said it was important for pension funds to have the knowledge of developments taking place in the economy in order to identify opportunities where they could invest in.
“We are encouraging the pension funds to identify both challenges and opportunities and take up the opportunities and invest responsibly to overcome the challenges and ensure economic growth and great returns for the investor,” Dhlamini said.
He said before the pension funds could invest they need to acknowledge the relevance of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) factors that might affect their investments.
“Pension funds need to explicitly acknowledge the relevance of ESGs and aim to achieve long term stability of the financial market,” he said.
He said they should also encourage the allocation and management of capital in a manner that is aligned with the short and long term interests of the stakeholders in the investment value chain.
Dhlamini said it is important for pension funds to be signatories of PRI so that they have access to technical support which will help them realise great returns that would then improve the lives of pensioners when they get their money on time.
Online Reporter