Standard on applying Principle 8: Be Responsive

Last updated: 2022

This document sets the SVI Standard to apply Principle 8: Be Responsive. The essence of this Principle is to take action; to make decisions about social value in response to data and measurement.

Use this resource to:

  • Integrate and act: Create a structured ‘impact management approach’ that can guide decision making at strategic, tactical, and operational levels to optimise impacts on wellbeing for all materially affected stakeholder groups. This means implementing activities that are designed to maximise the extent and rate of positive changes in wellbeing, whilst also identifying and eliminating activities that result in negative changes in wellbeing as fast as possible.

Investment classification

Impact classes group investments with similar impact characteristics based on their impact performance data (or, in the case of new investments, their impact goals). They can be used to define boundaries within which comparisons of impact performance are likely to be possible and sensible. This content is now hosted by Impact Frontiers.

Use this resource to:

  • Assess: Assess the actual or expected performance of a portfolio of investments using classification.

Global guidance on the integration of environmental, social and governance risks into insurance underwriting

Last updated: 2020

The first global guide to manage ESG risks in risk assessment and insurance underwriting. It has an initial focus on non-life insurance business—also known as property and casualty insurance business.

Use this resource to:

  • Identify: Understand the materiality of ESG risks to various lines of business and economic sectors, including characteristics which might affect the ability to assess and mitigate such risks.
  • Assess: Develop approaches to assess ESG risks in non-life insurance business transactions, particularly industrial and commercial insurance business.
  • Act: Address the growing concerns by stakeholders across society (e.g. NGOs, investors, governments).

Why and how investors should act on human rights

Last updated: 2020

This paper sets out how investors can ensure they respect human rights across all their investment activities, as defined by the UN and OECD.

Use this resource to:

  • Identify: Understand which actual and potential negative human rights outcomes investors are connected to through their investments.
  • Assess: Understand the extent to which investors are facilitating human rights harm; the extent to which they could or should have known; and the quality of any mitigating steps.

Making voting count: principle-based voting on shareholder resolutions

Last updated: 2021

The paper outlines what voting principles are, why they are needed, how voting principles can align with Active Ownership 2.0 (the PRI’s framework for more effective stewardship), and how they can be developed and applied to govern their use of voting on shareholder resolutions.

Use this resource to:

  • Act: Develop and apply high-level principles to govern voting on shareholder resolutions.

Investment mandates: Embedding ESG factors, improving sustainability outcomes

Last updated: 2021

Informed by interviews with asset owners and investment consultants, and data on industry practice, this report outlines common approaches and challenges to incorporating ESG considerations and sustainability outcomes in new or existing investment mandates.

Use this resource to:

  • Strategy: Explore how and to what extent asset owners can consider ESG factors when developing and designing investment mandates. Understand common approaches and challenges to incorporating ESG considerations and sustainability outcomes in new or existing investment mandates.

Driving meaningful data: financial materiality, sustainability performance and sustainability outcomes

Last updated: 2020

A framework that incorporates financial materiality and sustainability performance calibrated to progress on sustainability outcomes. This resource also considers sources of data needed to complete this picture across entities such as companies, governments and global institutions and activities.

Use this resource to:

  • Identify: Identify current and forward-looking information that assesses the range of sustainable risks and opportunities.
  • Assess: Assess and interpret a company’s sustainability performance and alignment in the context of long-term sustainability goals and thresholds.

Discussing divestment: Developing an approach when pursuing sustainability outcomes in listed equities

Last updated: 2022

This paper sets out how investors wanting to pursue sustainability outcomes may need to adjust how they make a divestment decision or formulate an overall approach to divestment.

Use this resource to:

  • Act: Understand how to make a divestment decision or to formulate an overall approach to divestment in order to pursue sustainability outcomes.

Bridging the gap: How infrastructure can contribute to SDG outcomes

This discussion paper details the current approaches that infrastructure investors are adopting to consider the Sustainable Development Goals as part of their investment approaches.

Use this resource to:

  • Identify: Identify outcomes caused by, contributed to and linked to their infrastructure investors, in relation to the SDGs.
  • Act: Understand the methods by which infrastructure investors can achieve desired SDG outcomes. Ensure that outcomes in line with the SDGs are integrated into infrastructure investment processes.

Active Ownership 2.0

Last updated: 2019

Active Ownership 2.0 is a framework for the more ambitious stewardship needed to deliver against beneficiaries’ interests and improve the sustainability and resilience of the financial system.

Use this resource to:

  • Act: Use the guidance to shape sustainability outcomes by engaging in more effective and assertive stewardship activities.