United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing (UNPRI) Reporting and Results

The historic involvement of the Pension Boards-United Church of Christ (PBUCC) in the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing (UNPRI—the gold standard of sustainable investment globally— places us in the center of the discussion about why sustainability matters to us as an investor on behalf of our members. PBUCC has been dedicated to corporate social responsibility and responsible investing since its founding in 1914, while constantly evolving over the decades. To share our activities and progress, we became UNPRI signatories in 2018.

UNPRI was founded in 2005 when then-U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan invited a group of the world’s largest institutional investors to join a process to develop the Principles for Responsible Investment. UNPRI currently has over 5,000 institutional investors—both asset managers and asset owners—as signatories representing over $120 trillion in assets under management (AUM). As fiduciaries, signatories believe environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) issues can impact portfolio performance and align with broader interests of society. UNPRI signatories follow six Principles for Responsible Investment:

Principle 1: We will incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes.

Principle 2: We will be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices.

Principle 3: We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest.

Principle 4: We will promote acceptance and implementation of the Principles within the investment industry.

Principle 5: We will work together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the Principles.

Principle 6: We will each report on our activities and progress towards implementing the Principles.

The reporting process for calendar year 2022 opened on June 14, 2023 and closed on September 13, 2023. The three modules that were assessed included the following:

Policy, Governance, and Strategy (PGS)

This module focused on the signatories’ overall approach to responsible investment, including key themes that are applicable to most asset classes. Policy includes responsible investing policy elements and AUM coverage. Governance includes roles and responsibilities, and external reporting and disclosure. Strategy includes capital allocation, stewardship (strategy, proxy voting, escalation, engagement with policymakers), climate change, sustainability outcomes, and human rights.

Manager Selection, Appointment & Monitoring (SAM)

This module focused on the selection, appointment, and monitoring of external managers. This includes stewardship and proxy voting done directly by managers. It also shows the signatory’s approach to assessing managers and engagement with managers during the monitoring process. The module is applicable when an asset class is over 10% of overall signatory assets.

Confidence Building Measures (CBM)

This module captures the signatory’s approach in the review and verification of data reported. This includes senior staff, internal audit, etc., reviewing the entire document.

As you can see on the chart, PBUCC scored well above the median in all modules measured. We are proud of our accomplishments and take that as motivation to continue to be leaders in responsible investing.

To learn more about UNPRI and to see more details of our report, please click here.