SPF considers sustainability to be a major aspect of the investment philosophy and an integral component of its investment principles. SPF is convinced that the sustainability policy is a way of contributing to sustainable development in the world without necessarily putting pressure on the portfolio’s risk and return profile. Please consult SPF's website under downloads for the complete sustainability policy (PDF).
The following six pillars are key in the SPF sustainability policy:
In signing the broad track of the IRBC Agreement in December 2018, SPF endorses the OESO guidelines for multi-national companies and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. In committing to these guidelines and principles, SPF aims to focus on specific societal developments that are important for its members and have been identified as high risk for its investment portfolio. Against this background, SPF aims to work particularly on the sustainability theme of climate change.
Where possible, SPF manages and evaluates investments according to ESG factors. ESG stands for Environment, Social, and Governance.
SPF encourages companies to effect positive developments in the field of social issues and sustainability. Broader engagement processes are also being initiated to appeal to entire sectors.
SPF monitors all Dutch listed real estate and other companies in which it invests via its voting policy.
We exclude activities in companies and countries that the United Nations, the European Union, or the Dutch government deem unacceptable. The fund therefore does not invest in companies that fail to act in accordance with the 10 principles of the United Nations Global Compact. Producers of controversial weapons such as nuclear weapons, biological weapons, chemical weapons, depleted uranium munitions, and white phosphorus munitions that do not fall under the exclusion criteria of the Global Compact (such as cluster munitions) are also excluded. Based on the above criteria, not only shares are excluded but also corporate and state bonds of countries that are sanctioned by the United Nations or the European Union. For the most part, these sanctions relate to human rights and weapons issues.
SPF publishes an annual report to ensure transparency about the sustainability policy and its implementation. In this report, SPF indicates how it handled sustainability in that year and which results it has achieved with respect to sustainability. In the context of transparency about where SPF invests, SPF publishes an annual overview of the total investment portfolio on its website. SPF will also provide a Vote Summary Report of shareholder meetings on its website. To conclude, the SPF Newsletter and the website regularly feature items on the SPF sustainability policy.
To identify companies and countries for exclusion, Sustainalytics carries out screening on behalf of the fund to establish the companies and countries in which the fund should not invest. Sustainalytics screens both developed and emerging markets on the above criteria. At the end of 2020, SPF’s list of exclusions comprised a total of 99 companies and thirteen countries in the investment universe.
In signing the IRBC Agreement in December 2018, SPF pledged to anchor the OECD guidelines and UN Guiding Principles within the pension fund policies, outsource activities to external service providers, and monitor and report on this topic. From 2022, SPF will report on progress in implementing the agreement in its annual report.