Research colloquia of the Environmental Policy Group
The ENP group has a series of colloquia in which a staff member of the ENP group, a PhD student or a visitor exchanges his/her work with the audience.
The aims of this series of colloquia are:
- to enhance the exchange of ideas between researchers;
- to offer MSc students the possibility to attend and participate in academic debates about (scientific) work in progress;
- to provide the lecturer with feedback and comments.
Please feel welcome to join us for the next ENP research colloquium:
Straightforward or taking a detour? The path of Dutch Pension funds towards Responsible Investment
| Date | 1 November |
|---|---|
| Time | 15.40-17.00 |
| Room | C78 (Leeuwenborch) |
Investors are not the first group that comes to mind when discussing environmental policy. However, investors and investments could play an important role in, for example, financing the energy transition and have an important role to play with regard to (changing) corporate policies. In the end, almost all of us are direct or indirect investors through insurance or our pension funds. The Dutch pension fund sector alone manages €1.346.000.000.000,- on behalf of nurses, metal workers, police officers and even PhD students.
Investors such as pension funds are increasingly taking into account sustainability criteria through Responsible Investing (RI). Indicators are for example the rise in assets under management worldwide managed under responsible investment practices has increased from $13.6 trillion in 2012 to $22.89 trillion in 2016 (GSIA, 2017).
Due to a wide range of studies we are slowly increasing our understanding on the different aspects and impact of RI. Especially the relation between RI and financial performance is a topic that is relatively well studied. However, still little work has been done on the more fundamental questions. Is RI for example indeed a transition process towards the integration of ecological rational in investment management? During this presentation we will tell you more on our research project on Dutch pension funds in which we develop and test a CSR stage model for institutional investors, using data from a yearly benchmark study on the RI practices of the 50 largest Dutch pension funds.
Frank Wagemans
Frank Wagemans is senior engagement specialist at Achmea Investment Management. At Achmea IM Frank engages companies on sustainability issues on behalf of Achmea IM and Dutch pension funds. Prior Frank worked for the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (VBDO), where he was, amongst other, responsible for the yearly benchmark Responsible Investment of Dutch Pension Funds. Frank studied environmental policy at Wageningen University and is an external PhD candidate at the Environmental Policy Group studying the effectiveness of responsible investment.
Rudy Verstappen
Rudy Verstappen is a senior manager at DPA Sustainability. Rudy advises Dutch pension funds, insurance companies and asset managers in the field of responsible investment. Prior Rudy worked for more than eight years at the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (VBDO), where he was, amongst other, responsible for the yearly benchmark Responsible Investment of Dutch Pension Funds. Rudy obtained a Masters degree Business Studies at the University of Amsterdam.