Annual Report 2023 (eng) - Flipbook - Side 13
INDUSTRIENS PENSIONSFORSIKRING A/S ÅRSRAPPORT 2023
Returns on a responsible foundation
Industriens Pension's investment policy is to
support
sustainable
and
responsible
development in society. Sustainability refers to
financial, environmental and climate as well as
social sustainability. We contribute to financial
sustainability by ensuring members good
pension savings through the highest possible
long-term returns, taking into account the risk.
We have a diversified portfolio, with many
different types of assets from investments in
large listed companies and small startups to real
assets such as infrastructure and properties. The
sustainability strategy concerns our entire
investment portfolio, and we therefore focus on
how each class of asset can support the strategy
in the best possible way.
Industriens Pension's approach to responsibility
and sustainability in the investment area is
rooted in our policy on responsible investment
and active ownership. The policy is based on a
number of international standards and
principles, including the UN Global Compact
concerning
responsible
behaviour
of
businesses within human rights, labour rights,
the environment, anti-corruption, and antibribery.
We aim to influence investments in our portfolio
through active ownership. We believe that we
can make the biggest difference by engaging in
dialogue on this responsible behaviour, and
placing demands on the companies in which we
invest. We have direct dialogue with portfolio
companies and dialogue through our external
cooperation partner, Federated Hermes EOS. In
2023, we were in dialogue with 706 companies
on responsible investment, see Table 10, and we
voted on 8,210 proposals at general meetings.
However, there are companies and countries
that do not live up to our policy and that we
therefore do not want to invest in. Moreover, we
have not been able to nudge some companies
in a more sustainable direction through active
ownership. These are all investments that we do
not want in our portfolio and consequently we
have excluded them from our investment
universe.
Industriens Pension reports regularly on its
website on implementation of our policy for
active ownership and exclusion. The website
includes a database of all voting activity by
Industriens Pension, a list of our dialogue
themes, and our exclusion lists.
Requirements for labour rights
Industriens Pension has requirements for
compliance with human rights and labour rights
in our investments, and these rights are included
as a specific consideration in the investment
process. Decent employment is not only a
labour right, it also helps ensure long-term
sustainable returns on investments.
During 2023, Industriens Pension was in contact
with 204 companies about human rights and
labour rights. Some companies face challenges
with labour rights, and through dialogue we
have not been able to achieve the desired
progress. Therefore, we have excluded them
from the investment universe of Industriens
Pension. This applies for the US companies
Amazon and Tesla, for example, which have
resisted employees' right to organise in unions.
INVESTMENT ACTIVITIES
Responsible tax behaviour
Fair tax is an important parameter when
investing, especially when investments are
across national borders. It is crucial for us that
the tax structures and methods used ensure fair
tax payments.
Industriens Pension disapproves of aggressive
tax planning and tax evasion, including any
attempts at, and involvement in money
laundering, and expects the same of all its
cooperation partners.
Over the past years, Industriens Pension has
gradually increased its focus on fair tax payment
and tax structures in the companies in which we
invest. In 2018, Industriens Pension joined forces
with three other Danish pension companies to
draw up a tax code of conduct for private equity
investments. Another 13 pension companies and
large commercial foundations have endorsed
the code of conduct since it was drawn up.
The code of conduct forms the basis for us to
systematically ensure that members' funds are
not invested in aggressive tax structures that
may be used to reduce tax payments to a level
that is not in line with regard to economically
sustainable societal development.
Today, Industriens Pension places considerable
demands on managers offering investments,
including that they comply with the tax principles
established. If this is not the case, Industriens
Pension will not make the investment.
Climate targets for the portfolio
A core element of Industriens Pension's
ambition to contribute to sustainable societal
development is to support the targets of the
Paris Agreement. This means that the entire
investment portfolio must be climate-neutral by
2050. In this connection, Industriens Pension
has joined the global Net-Zero Asset Owner
Alliance and set specific targets that the climate
footprint of the portfolio of listed shares,
corporate bonds and directly owned properties
is to be reduced by at least 29% from 2019 to
2025. In 2024, new sub-targets will follow up to
2030.
Table 10 Active ownership
Number
Di ogue re ted to ctive ownership
,
- c im te-re ted di ogue
- di ogues on hum n rights nd
bour rights
Number of comp nies with which we h ve h d
Propos s t gener
meetings voted on, tot
di ogue
,
13
