Aon New Zealand – Responsible Investment Policy
Aon is a global signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, and therefore recognises the importance of incorporating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues into investment processes. Aon is committed to providing, developing and promoting services that support implementation of these Principles.
Aon believes that over the long term, companies with strong ESG practices should deliver stronger risk-adjusted returns than those without. This view is supported by increasing empirical evidence showing that incorporating material ESG factors into investment research does not lower investment returns. Therefore, including ESG issues in the investment process can be consistent with fulfilling fiduciary duties.
Aon New Zealand acknowledges that it has a responsibility to ensure that the assets of the Aon KiwiSaver Scheme and the Aon Master Trust (the “Schemes”) are invested in a manner that is consistent with Aon’s global responsible investment policy, while also having a fiduciary duty to seek to maximise investment returns, subject to appropriate risk constraints.
The Schemes are designed to appeal to a broad range of New Zealanders, whose views on what constitutes Responsible Investment will vary and may differ from those of Aon.
Therefore Aon New Zealand will not exclude particular companies or sectors from investment funds on ethical grounds, other than aiming to ensure that all of the underlying managers avoid investing in any company whose activities would be deemed to be unlawful under New Zealand law, notwithstanding that the investment might be domiciled in another country.
Aon New Zealand will continue to offer a range of investment options to the Schemes’ members, using underlying managers with differing approaches to Responsible Investment. All underlying managers will be required to incorporate ESG principles into their company analysis and Aon New Zealand will encourage them to actively engage with companies on ESG issues.
June 2018