TNO Pension Fund selects Cardano as ESG advisor
Stichting Pensioenfonds TNO (SP TNO), the pension fund for employees and pensioners of TNO and its other affiliated employers, has selected Cardano as advisor on socially responsible investing. Cardano will support SP TNO in realizing its sustainability ambitions, translating these into policies with concrete and measurable objectives and relieving SP TNO of its sustainability obligations. A healthy, sustainable and innovative society are the spearheads here.
Hans de Ruiter, Chief Investment Officer at SP TNO: “The ESG policy of pension funds demands more and more attention, partly because of the intrinsic need of the fund and its participants to realize a positive impact with its investments. Pension funds are also running more and more legal and reputation risks in the area of environmental, social and governance (ESG). These are issues that, as a pension fund, you want to be on top of and that require more and more expertise. This made us decide to look for an organization that could support us with policy choices, legislation and regulations, reporting, monitoring and other ESG-related activities; in short, the entire palette of ESG activities. The availability of a large and experienced ESG team, coupled with the ESG data and reporting infrastructure required for us, resulted in the appointment of Cardano as ESG advisor.”
Hans de Ruiter, Chief Investment Officer at SP TNO: “The ESG policy of pension funds demands more and more attention, partly because of the intrinsic need of the fund and its participants to realize a positive impact with its investments. Pension funds are also running more and more legal and reputation risks in the area of environmental, social and governance (ESG). These are issues that, as a pension fund, you want to be on top of and that require more and more expertise. This made us decide to look for an organization that could support us with policy choices, legislation and regulations, reporting, monitoring and other ESG-related activities; in short, the entire palette of ESG activities. The availability of a large and experienced ESG team, coupled with the ESG data and reporting infrastructure required for us, resulted in the appointment of Cardano as ESG advisor.”
Dennis van der Putten, Director Sustainability & Corporate Strategy at Cardano: “Pension funds will not only be faced with the transition to a new pension system in the coming years, but also with increasing sustainability requirements and expectations. The concrete interpretation, implementation and accountability of the SRI policy creates the necessary challenges. We are particularly pleased that SP TNO has chosen us to support them in this”.
Specialists
Hans de Ruiter: “Pension fund TNO has been working for a long time according to the model whereby specialists are hired to provide support on specific facets of the investment policy. The board office is the director of the total process. For example, we use a strategic investment advisor and parties who advise us in the selection of our investment in real estate and Private Equity. Cardano will now have the role of sustainability advisor. This new partnership follows the growing trend of appointing specialists in the field of SRI. With their specialist ESG knowledge, they can relieve us by developing an integrated vision and policy on themes such as a healthy, sustainable and innovative society.”
