The chief investment officer of CalSTRS has been appointed to the advisory board of the UN-backed Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI) as the global organization prepares for an overhaul of its internal governance rules.
CalSTRS CIO Chris Ailman will start immediately a three-year term as an adviser to PRI on ESG matters, according to a press release by CalSTRS.
The world’s largest educator-only pension fund, which has $176 bn in assets under management, has a history of activism on ESG issues, including climate change, transparency and board diversity.
‘CalSTRS, as an asset owner and investor with a global reach, has invested consistent with ESG principles since 1978, making it a natural fit with the PRI ethos,’ Ailman says.
‘As an organization, we were an early signatory to the PRI and are honored to have the opportunity to contribute to this instrumental oversight body to help guide global investment practices toward greater sustainability and thoughtful growth.’
Ailman joins PRI’s board ahead of an announced internal governance overhaul and weeks after several Danish funds withdrew from the UN-backed organization, accusing it of violating its own governance standards through ad hoc decision making and a lack of transparency.
Last month Danish investors ATP, Industriens Pension, PensionDanmark, PFA Pension, PKA and Sampension withdrew support from the PRI, saying they ‘observed with concern that the governance of the PRI organization does not live up to the basic standards we as investors would expect of the companies in which we invest.’
The PRI responded to the funds’ withdrawal by saying it has already started the process of reviewing its governance procedures and structure.
‘The PRI is committed to ensuring this review is carried out to the highest standards of independence, impartiality, transparency and accountability, and that its findings and recommendations – along with any subsequent changes to PRI governance as a result of the review – are clear, practical, understood and supported by signatories via our decision-making processes,’ the organization said.
