Impact Investing – May 24, 2018

Industry Trends

On April 23, 2018, the Department of Labor published a “Field Assistance Bulletin” providing guidance to fiduciaries of private-sector employee benefit plans. The note served as a clarification related to the DOL 2015 guidance on economically targeted investments and the DOL 2016 guidance on shareholder engagement. While remaining clear that fiduciaries must prioritize financial returns, the DOL confirmed that pension managers can and should feel comfortable using ESG factors as an input in evaluating potential risk and financial return.

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