Denmark’s Industriens Pension and PenSam have joined the ATP initiative on better sustainability data.

The initiative from ATP aims to provide better data and more knowledge about the work on sustainability of unlisted companies in the portfolio.

The initiative comes as many in the industry recognise the need for better data foir investors in unlisted companies’ work on environmental issues, social issues and good corporate governance.

While listed investments in recent years have seen a large increase in focus on ESG data, unlisted investments are often under-illuminated. Therefore, in 2020, ATP developed a comprehensive questionnaire and a database targeted at the unlisted area in order to create a better overview of the ESG work here and through dialogue support the companies' efforts in the area.

This was done based on the belief that solid ESG reporting benefits returns because it lifts the reputation of companies and funds, reduces risk and thus increases pricing.

Industriens Pension and PenSam have joined the initiative to ensure a better basis for engaging in dialogue with companies on how to improve on various ESG issues.

Industriens Pension investment director, Peter Lindegaard, said: “We are convinced that this tool can give us a lot of extra knowledge about ESG matters in unlisted companies, which we can use in our dialogue with companies about, for example, environmental matters and good corporate governance. In this connection, data in the area is crucial, and we are really pleased with the new collaboration.”

In addition, ATP investment director, Mikkel Svenstrup, said: “As a socially responsible investor, it is important for us to contribute actively to the green transition. In order to achieve the goal of a real CO2 reduction in a few years, we have an ambitious goal that our companies must report their total CO2 footprint as early as 2025. The collaboration in the unlisted area means that we are now three pension companies, which in future will share our anonymised data and gain a broader and thus better knowledge base for how the unlisted companies can also develop in an even more sustainable and responsible direction.”

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