The "vast majority" of Finnish occupational pension assets are invested responsibly, analysis by the Finnish Pension Alliance (Tela) has found.

Tela’s analysis looked at responsible investment through a range of international commitments, finding that most of the €251bn in investment assets are involved in promoting cooperative projects on responsible investment. This is the third time that Tela has compiled information on responsible investment in the Finnish occupational pensions sector.

“International sustainability commitments, harmonised reporting frameworks and institutional investor engagement initiatives are ways for Finnish occupational pension insurers to implement responsible investing,” Tela analyst, Kimmo Koivurinne, said.

Pension insurers, as signatories or through their external asset managers, are involved in many commitments and active ownership projects that promote responsible investment. Depending on the commitment or project, at least 60-97 per cent of assets are invested responsibly.

This year, the Nature Action 100 initiative, which aims to promote corporate action to reverse the loss of nature, has been added as a new indicator. The initiative commits companies to take action to halt biodiversity loss by 2030.

“Preventing biodiversity loss has increasingly risen up the agenda of responsible investing, and Finnish pension insurers have joined the Nature Action 100 pledge, for example. By participating in joint initiatives with major institutional investors, occupational pension insurers can influence the operations of key companies with significant environmental impacts," Koivurinne said.

At least 61 per cent of pension assets are covered by the Nature Action 100 initiative. In addition, some assets are included in the commitment through external asset managers used for investment activities.

“Otherwise, there is little change in the results of the analysis compared to previous years. The commitment of Finnish pension funds to the projects examined has remained at the same level. In addition, IORPs have a wide range of different responsible investment projects and set new targets for their investments every year. The wide range of responsible investment instruments is constantly evolving," Koivurinne added.

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