|
September 24, 2004
Institutional Investors Can Now Hedge Climate Risk With New Investment Strategy
by William Baue
The strategy combines the investment algorithms of State Street Global Advisors with an
environmental overlay from Innovest Strategic Value Advisors.
SocialFunds.com --
Institutional investors concerned about the impact of climate change on portfolio performance
gained a new tool yesterday when State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) and Innovest Strategic Value Advisors launched their US Core
Environmental strategy. The strategy grows out of an SSgA study finding benchmark outperformance
by applying its own proprietary investment algorithms, and further outperformance by adding a tilt
based on Innovest's sector-specific environmental ratings.
 "SSgA believes that its process adds value
to the benchmark, and the study showed it does, but what the study also showed to their
satisfaction is that Innovest's process is accretive, so you get a double hit," said Innovest CEO
Matthew Kiernan. "I like to call it a 'double alpha' strategy."
State Street, which has
about a three percent ownership stake in Innovest, focused the study on a broad universe comprising
the Russell 1000. The study examined a five-year period running from December 1998 to February
2004.
"We found 1.81 basis points in incremental annual performance improvement when we
incorporated Innovest environmental information relative to the same quantitative strategy without
environmental inputs," said Kimberly Gluck, a principal at SSgA. "We ran simulations using a
number of different techniques, all of which added value."
Mainstream investors have long
responded to studies finding SRI outperformance by attributing it to other factors, such as
overrepresentation of technology stocks (during the tech boom) or exposure to interest rate
fluctuations.
"What this study did, importantly, is to normalize away all of those
potentially intervening variables and isolate the SRI effect," Dr. Kiernan told SocialFunds.com.
"We think precisely because this strategy combines sustainability with a disciplined traditional
process that it is likely to resonate much more strongly with institutional investors, who are
understandably concerned with their fiduciary responsibility."
In fact several members of
the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), a
coalition of institutional investors representing over $800 billion in assets, are currently
gearing up to apply eco-efficiency screens to portions of their portfolios.
The
California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), the largest US pension fund with $166 billion in
assets, is perhaps furthest advanced in translating INCR principles into concrete actions over and
above shareowner action. In April 2004, the CalPERS Board approved implementation of the "Green
Wave Initiative" proposed by California Treasurer Phil Angelides. Earlier this month, CalPERS
issued a call for investment managers to manage up to $500 million in environmental investment
strategies.
Asked whether CalPERS is considering employing the SSgA/Innovest US Core
Environmental strategy, CalPERS spokesperson Brad Pacheco told SocialFunds.com that "it's too early
for us to comment."
The Green Wave Initiative inspired Maine Treasurer Dale McCormick to develop
a similar model.
"I am in the process of formulating a proposal to accommodate my 'Two
Percent Initiative,' which is investing 2 percent of the Maine Trust Funds in securities that would
hedge against climate change risk and leverage the competitive advantage of eco-efficient
companies," Treasurer McCormick told SocialFunds.com. "The announcement of this strategy is very
timely--I was expecting State Street would apply, though when I formulated my initiative, they
hadn't launched their fund yet."
Now, details on the fund are available.
"SSgA's
US Core Environmental Strategy seeks to outperform the S&P 500 Index by 2 to 4 percent annually
regardless of market conditions," Ms. Gluck told SocialFunds.com. "Unlike many socially
responsible strategies, the US Core Environmental Strategy does not eliminate whole industries or
individual companies from the investable universe, thus removing a major obstacle to institutional
acceptance of an environmentally-sensitive strategy."
Interest will likely not be limited
to INCR members, as a wide range of institutional investors are shifting from the traditional view
that fiduciary duty prohibits consideration of environmental issues to the view that
prudence requires such consideration.
"We believe there has been a tectonic shift
in the US institutional market over the last nine months whereby formerly divergent
issues--sustainability on the one hand, and corporate governance and fiduciary duty on the
other--are beginning to converge here," said Dr. Kiernan.
"For endowments and foundations
that value the environment, this strategy gives them an opportunity to make the investment side of
their operation congruent with their program activities," Dr. Kiernan added.
©
SRI World Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Top
| 
