As the leadership of organizations that invest and manage more than CAD [$X billion/trillion] of assets, we, the undersigned, embrace the expectations for fund and strategy disclosure set forth in the CFA Institute Global ESG Disclosure Standards for Investment Products (“ESG Disclosure Standards”). The purpose of these industry standards is to facilitate full disclosure and fair representation about how ESG considerations are incorporated into the objectives, investment process, and stewardship activities of investment products—irrespective of how the fund or strategy is designed, implemented, named, labelled, or classified.
The ESG Disclosure Standards are jointly developed and maintained by CFA Institute, the premier global association of investment professionals with more than 190,000 members around the world in more than 160 markets and with 21,000 CFA charterholder members in Canada, and by volunteer investment professionals with deep experience in the design, distribution, and selection of investment products that incorporate ESG considerations. The standards represent a general consensus about the type of information and level of detail that is needed by clients, investors, and consultants, and that can and should be provided by investment managers. Common expectations enable managers to more effectively and efficiently provide the desired information, and enable clients, investors, and consultants to more effectively and efficiently select products and perform due diligence.
The ESG Disclosure Standards can be universally applied to any investment fund, product, or strategy that considers ESG data or ESG issues in its objectives, investment processes, or stewardship activities—regardless of the specific ESG approaches that are used, the motivation for considering ESG issues, the type of investment vehicle, the jurisdiction or domicile of the investment product or its investors, the asset classes in which the product invests, or how the product is named, labelled, or classified. CFA Institute has made these standards available to all market participants at no cost as part of its mission is to lead the investment profession globally by promoting the highest standards of ethics, education, and professional excellence for the ultimate benefit of society.
[Asset Owners, Sub-advised, Investors and Intermediaries – Statement]
We, the undersigned, commit to requesting ESG Disclosure Statements (or equivalent other disclosures) that comply with the ESG Disclosure Standards. We urge our investment management partners and firms across the industry to join us in this effort to enhance the quality, consistency, and value of investment product ESG disclosure information.
Signed [June] 2023
[Firm 1, Location]
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[Firms/Product Managers – Statement]
We, the undersigned, commit to begin preparing and making available ESG Disclosure Statements (or equivalent other disclosures) that comply with the ESG Disclosure Standards for certain investment funds and/or products that we manage as investment fund manager. We urge our investment management partners and firms across the industry to join us in this effort to increase the quality, consistency, and value of investment product ESG disclosure information.
Signed [June] 2023
[Firm 1, Location]