• Working at Western
  • Staff Positions
  • Faculty Positions
  • Jobs for Students
  • New Employee Orientation
  • Employee Groups & Collective Agreements
  • Policies & Procedures
• Benefits & Pay
  • Pay Information
  • Your Benefits
  • Educational Funding
  • Pregnancy & Parental
  • Employee Assistance Plan
  • Benefits FAQ & Glossary
  • Benefits Forms
  • Retiring or Leaving Western
  • University Health Insurance Plan (UHIP)
• Pension
  • Investment Reporting
  • Plan Information
  • Workshops & Planning Tools
  • Forms & Presentations
  • Retiring or Leaving Western
  • FAQ & Glossary
  • Retirement Income Fund
• Safety & Wellness
  • Health & Safety Topics
  • Required Training
  • Resources & Reports
  • Forms
  • Contacts & Committees
  • Ergonomics & Rehabilitation
  • Wellness
  • University Corporate Insurance
• Learning & Development
  • Courses & Learning Opportunities
  • Required Training
  • Educational Funding
  • Facilitation & Consultation Services
• Diversity
  • Equity & Human Rights Services
  • Duty to Accommodate
  • Accessibility

• Home
• Pension
• Investment Reporting
• Socially Responsible Investing

Socially Responsible Investing

The SRI (Socially Responsible Investing) Fund is an investment available to active members of the Western Pension Plans. It was added to Western’s portfolio of investment choices in 2008, and was managed by Mackenzie Financial until May 2012, when Mackenzie served notice that they had terminated the fund that constituted Western’s SRI fund. Aberdeen Asset Management (a company that had provided portfolio advice to Mackenzie for this fund in the past) took over management of the fund. One of the results of the change in management is that the SRI Fund is no longer available to RIF (Retirement Income Fund) members.

What is socially responsible investing?

The definition of socially responsible investing has evolved over the years, in part due to the increased public interest on issues such as climate change and the inclusion by major Canadian public pension plans of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their investment analysis. Socially responsible investing is broadly defined as the integration of ESG factors in the selection and management of investments.

It has several components:

• Negative and Positive Screening
  Negative screening involves avoiding investing in companies doing business in industries that are detrimental to society, such as: tobacco, alcohol, military or weapons, gambling, pornography, nuclear power, etc. Positive screening implies investing in companies that have superior practices in the area of human rights, workers’ rights, environment, corporate governance, corporate citizenship, gender and cultural equity, etc. These screens may apply to equity and/or fixed income investing.
• Community Investment
  This involves the investment of money into community development or micro-enterprise initiatives that contribute to the growth and well being of particular communities. These projects may include providing loans to entrepreneurs with low income, high risk loans or equity in not-for-profits projects, lending for social or affordable housing, etc. Although some of these initiatives provide an expected return commensurate with the risk of the project, others would not pass a purely economic test.
• Integrating social and sustainability factors with stock portfolio analysis
  Historically, most SRI assets were managed according to negative screens, but increasingly, asset managers are using much more complex techniques in their analysis and now include social and sustainability analysis to improve their investment decisions. This process does not necessarily involve screening out particular holdings based on pre-determined social or sustainability choices. The companies targeted can either be established ones or new start-ups.
• Shareholder Advocacy
  This is the process by which a shareholder uses its power to influence the behaviour of a corporation, through corporate communication, shareholder proposals, proxy voting and divestment.

SRI Portfolio Management

Aberdeen Asset Management, an international investment management company, is currently responsible for the portfolio management of Western’s SRI Fund. Aberdeen began managing SRI mandates in 1988 and is widely acknowledged as one of the leading specialists in this investment approach.

Investment Process

The investment option available to active pension plan members is a global equity fund. A global equity fund invests in shares of companies located all over the world, including Canada, the U.S., Europe, Asia, Australia and also emerging markets such as China, India, Brazil and Russia. For this product, Aberdeen uses a “bottom-up” value approach. A bottom-up approach involves selecting companies based on their individual strengths first and giving secondary consideration to the industry or country. A value approach involves incorporating several valuation measures when selecting stocks. One valuation metric commonly used is the price/earnings ratio (or P/E ratio). This ratio is calculated by dividing the price of a stock with the earnings per share. The higher the ratio, the more expensive the stock is.

Twin Hurdles

Aberdeen ensures that the companies it invests in pass the twin hurdles of fundamental financial strength and acceptable social behaviour.

Fundamental Financial Strength

Aberdeen’s regional analysts identify companies with quality management and superior earnings potential based on their own research, direct company contacts and valuation expectations from a variety of outside research sources. Companies meeting these criteria are assigned a rating according to growth expectations and quality of management. These ratings make up Aberdeen’s Global Equity Buy List. Stocks remain on the Buy List for as long as is justified by their fundamental performance.

Acceptable Social Behaviour

Companies that pass Aberdeen’s financial hurdles are then analyzed for evidence of acceptable social behaviour. This analysis combines positive and negative criteria to identify companies that are ethically, socially and environmentally progressive. Aberdeen’s socially responsible investment process includes the use of positive and negative screens, integrating social and sustainability factors with stock portfolio analysis and shareholder advocacy, mostly through proxy voting and ongoing communication with management. Aberdeen reviews social, ethical and environmental criteria that cover 18 core areas. (Click here for a description of Aberdeen’s investment and ethical screens.)