Council for Responsible Public Investment

The New Fiduciary, "Risk, Liability, and Reward in a Changing Fiduciary Environment" is an invitation-only event bringing together leaders tackling evolving issues of fiduciary responsibility.

April 27th, at the San Francisco law offices of Morrison & Foerester.

In late 2005, the United Nations commissioned Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, a leading international law firm, to examine whether institutional investors have the right or obligation to incorporate social and environmental factors into investing decisions.

The Freshfields report challenged previously understood notions of the institutional fiduciary, sparking a global conversation on the role of institutional investors.

Paul Watchman, primary author of the Freshfields report, will join a distinghished group of cutting-edge professionals presenting on the evolving context of modern fiduciary theory, and steps farsighted organizations are taking to benefit from future opportunities.

For inquiries, please contact CRPI at Fiduciary(at)PublicInvestment.org

The Investing in Public Health project provides education and technical assistance to public pensions regarding their investments in the tobacco industry. The project advocates the use of proxy voting and divestment as tools to exert pressure on tobacco companies to end business practices that are unethical and that undermine public health. Working in collaboration with unions and other interested organizations, the project produces and distributes educational material. See the Publications section of this website for a list of project publications.

The Campaign Against Transnational Tobacco works with college students to pressure campus administrators to keep university endowments free of tobacco investments. The campaign raises awareness among 18- to 24-year olds about the tobacco industry’s unethical business practices, as well as the global harm to public health, to workers, and to the environment caused by big tobacco. For more information on the Campaign Against Transnational Tobacco, visit the Campaign website.

Beyond CalPERS is an on-going CRPI research project. Over the past 20 years, CalPERS has evolved into a formidable practitioner of shareholder activism, demonstrating that sound corporate governance and social responsibility improve returns to shareowners. CRPI’s Beyond CalPERS publications provide basic
information on socially responsible shareowner practices at California’s other pension plans. Its first survey -- covering California’s 20 county pensions -- was conducted in cooperation with UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy. A
subsequent survey will report on California’s city pensions. Find project papers in the Publications section of this website.

Basis Analysis for Sustainable Investment Strategies for Universal Portfolios (BASIS) is a research and advocacy project that seeks to strengthen the incentives of large institutional investors to promote environmental accountability at US corporations.