Financial Times (May 16)
“The March 11 earthquake and tsunami caused Y2,000bn ($25bn) in damage to plant and equipment at Japanese companies and left many too uncertain of their business prospects to issue forecasts for the current fiscal year.” While quake-dampened consumer demand remains a concern, “it is the problems on the supply side that have contributed most to the uncertainty.”
Tags: Consumer demand, Damage, Earthquake, Forecasts, Japan, Supply chain
Institutional Investor (May 15)
Emphasizing the growing importance of environmental, social and governance factors (ESG) to investors, two major pension funds announced sustainable investment initiatives. The $236 billion California State Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) pension plan will “fully integrate ESG factors in all investment decisions, and across all asset classes.” Meanwhile, the $152.9 billion California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) has pledged that all of its “external managers will include an analysis of how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues factor into their strategies.” CalSTRS CEO Jack Ehnes said, “No matter what you’re doing with us, there are ESG risks that we think will have a long-term impact on the portfolio, and we want to be sure that you’re articulating for us how you’re looking at them.”
Tags: CalPERs, CalSTRS, ESG, Pension funds, Sustainable investment
