Pension fund investors should consider the importance of maintaining responsible investment principles even amid political cycles and regulatory uncertainty, Elo chief investment officer, Jonna Ryhänen, has said.

In a blog post, Ryhänen emphasised that Finnish earnings-related pension provider Elo’s commitment to promoting responsibility will continue, regardless of political cycles, adding that the company is taking the issue with the same “vigour”.

“Elo has its own principles for responsible investment and an ownership steering policy, in accordance with which we operate in the long term,” she said.

“In corporate governance, we actively highlight the fact that we hope that the boards of companies show diversity. In the votes of the annual general meeting, we do not always vote according to the recommendation of the proxy advisor but follow our own policy of emphasising diversity.”

Ryhänen acknowledged that in a stable political and economic environment, it is easier to focus on sustainability. However, she argued that investors and owners must hold their own policies even when the environment challenges them.

“We live in a politically very uncertain world. The views of even one president can change how people approach sustainability and what kind of investments are made in promoting sustainability,” she continued.

“The biggest question from the perspective of a long-term pension investor is the decrease in predictability. Do views on responsibility change every time there is a change in political leadership around the world? This cannot be sustainable.”

She suggested that many US companies have been “startled” by President Donald Trump’s “strong” views, promoting some companies to change their operations.

In particular, she highlighted that diversity-related policies have become a domestic and power-political issue in the US, whereas Europe is advancing new regulations to strengthen corporate diversity.

This divergence, she noted, is further separating the UW and Europe not only in economic development but also in corporate responsibility standards.

As a result, she said, companies and investors face difficult decisions on how to adapt their own operations with very divergent views and regulations around the world.

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