The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) is a voluntary investor-led initiative, backed by the United Nations. Together, the six principles are meant to provide a ‘best practice’ code of conduct for institutional investors seeking to adopt responsible investment practices with a secondary goal of contributing to improved corporate performance on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. Launched in 2006, the PRI has grown to be the single largest global investor initiative with over 700 signatory financial institutions representing assets under management in excess of $US20 trillion. Contributing to the broader literature on plausible explanations for why firms participate in voluntary initiatives, the thesis is primarily concerned with the question of what has motivated institutional investors to create and publicly commit to the PRI. A review of the broader trends behind the growth of responsible investment and the emergence of the PRI indicates the dominant utilitarian, cost-benefit logic is not wholly persuasive in understanding investor motivations. The research findings indicate that decisions to integrate ESG issues and publicly commit to adopting the PRI should be primarily viewed as a response to formal pressures by external stakeholders and actors in an investor’s institutional environment. Regulatory and stakeholder influences in the form of NGO advocacy campaigns have established normative standards directed towards the conduct of investors. As public opinion has shifted to put greater emphasis on sustainable development, the image and reputation of a pension scheme in relation to these trends have come under increasing scrutiny such that being perceived as a ‘responsible’ investor – sometimes even in the absence of a direct market rationale – has become a central driver behind the growth of responsible investment. The decision to adopt the PRI and establish beyond-compliance commitments to integrate ESG issues into investment decision-making should principally be seen as embedded in broader reputational risk management strategies. These findings support complex market rationalism explanations for firm participation in voluntary initiatives which suggest that firms commit to such principles or codes of conduct as a means of assuring stakeholders that their concerns are being internalized into corporate practices. A secondary focus of the thesis is to examine signatory implementation to-date, assessing the adequacy and effectiveness of the voluntary measure for the promotion of more socially-responsible and environmentally-sustainable investments. While substantial progress has been shown by a small group of PRI signatories, it remains unclear whether the PRI has generated significant improvement across the broader signatory base. The PRI suffers from several weaknesses commonly identified in the literature on voluntary initiatives. First, a lack of accountability measures limits incentives for investors to go beyond business-as-usual. Second, less stringent voluntary standards like the PRI are likely to suffer from adverse selection and free riding, therefore threatening the credibility of the initiative’s reputation over the longer-term. Ironically, weaknesses in the institutional design of the PRI may undermine the very reputational benefit sought after by signatories.

The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) is a voluntary investor-led initiative, backed by the United Nations. Together, the six principles are meant to provide a ‘best practice’ code of conduct for institutional investors seeking to adopt responsible investment practices with a secondary goal of contributing to improved corporate performance on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. Launched in 2006, the PRI has grown to be the single largest global investor initiative with over 700 signatory financial institutions representing assets under management in excess of $US20 trillion. Contributing to the broader literature on plausible explanations for why firms participate in voluntary initiatives, the thesis is primarily concerned with the question of what has motivated institutional investors to create and publicly commit to the PRI. A review of the broader trends behind the growth of responsible investment and the emergence of the PRI indicates the dominant utilitarian, cost-benefit logic is not wholly persuasive in understanding investor motivations. The research findings indicate that decisions to integrate ESG issues and publicly commit to adopting the PRI should be primarily viewed as a response to formal pressures by external stakeholders and actors in an investor’s institutional environment. Regulatory and stakeholder influences in the form of NGO advocacy campaigns have established normative standards directed towards the conduct of investors. As public opinion has shifted to put greater emphasis on sustainable development, the image and reputation of a pension scheme in relation to these trends have come under increasing scrutiny such that being perceived as a ‘responsible’ investor – sometimes even in the absence of a direct market rationale – has become a central driver behind the growth of responsible investment. The decision to adopt the PRI and establish beyond-compliance commitments to integrate ESG issues into investment decision-making should principally be seen as embedded in broader reputational risk management strategies. These findings support complex market rationalism explanations for firm participation in voluntary initiatives which suggest that firms commit to such principles or codes of conduct as a means of assuring stakeholders that their concerns are being internalized into corporate practices. A secondary focus of the thesis is to examine signatory implementation to-date, assessing the adequacy and effectiveness of the voluntary measure for the promotion of more socially-responsible and environmentally-sustainable investments. While substantial progress has been shown by a small group of PRI signatories, it remains unclear whether the PRI has generated significant improvement across the broader signatory base. The PRI suffers from several weaknesses commonly identified in the literature on voluntary initiatives. First, a lack of accountability measures limits incentives for investors to go beyond business-as-usual. Second, less stringent voluntary standards like the PRI are likely to suffer from adverse selection and free riding, therefore threatening the credibility of the initiative’s reputation over the longer-term. Ironically, weaknesses in the institutional design of the PRI may undermine the very reputational benefit sought after by signatories.

Submitted by Maicon Juliano Schmidt (maicons) on 2015-08-07T13:36:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Karina Rodrigues Pereira_.pdf: 842883 bytes, checksum: 47e9e5bfe8fdf9bcfe064da54ae57db5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-08-07T13:36:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Karina Rodrigues Pereira_.pdf: 842883 bytes, checksum: 47e9e5bfe8fdf9bcfe064da54ae57db5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-12-19 / Nenhuma / Os Fundos de Pensão são importantes investidores institucionais, detentores de um grande volume de recursos, proveniente das poupanças previdenciárias de seus participantes. Com a finalidade de cumprir com seu principal objetivo (pagamento de benefícios futuros), os Fundos de Pensão precisam empregar seus recursos nas modalidades mais rentáveis de investimentos, levando em consideração o prazo e o nível de risco apresentado. Para auxiliá-los nesta questão, foram criados os Princípios para o Investimento Responsável (Principles for Responsible Investment - PRI), os quais consideram que empresas sustentáveis, do ponto de vista, ambiental, social e de governança corporativa podem gerar maior valor para o acionista no longo prazo, pois estão mais preparadas para enfrentar riscos futuros. Considerando que os Fundos de Pensão podem ocupar assento no conselho das empresas investidas, buscando auxiliá-las nas questões abordadas pelo PRI, o presente estudo tem como principal objetivo analisar a relação entre o ativismo exercido por um Fundo de Pensão brasileiro, signatário do PRI, e o nível de governança corporativa e práticas sustentáveis adotados pelas empresas investidas. Para a realização desta pesquisa foram elaborados e testados três modelos estatísticos. O primeiro modelo avalia a relação entre ativismo e responsabilidade ambiental (IRA), o segundo avalia a relação entre ativismo e responsabilidade social (IRS), e o último avalia a relação entre ativismo e governança corporativa (IGOV). Os dados foram coletados através do método de pesquisa documental e foram extraídos de diversas fontes. A amostra utilizada neste estudo foi selecionada a partir da carteira de investimentos da PETROS – Fundação Petrobras de Seguridade Social, segundo maior Fundo de Pensão brasileiro. Foram consideradas 41 empresas, observadas pelo período de 10 anos (2001 à 2010). A metodologia aplicada para a regressão dos modelos estatísticos foi o método de Dados de Painel, com efeitos aleatórios. Por fim, foram apurados os resultados e analisados os índices de responsabilidade ambiental (IRA), responsabilidade social (IRS) e governança corporativa (IGOV) das empresas investidas, antes e após a presença do ativismo do Fundo de Pensão. Os resultados encontrados suportam as hipóteses de que o ativismo exercido pelos Fundos de Pensão está positivamente relacionado com o desempenho socioambiental e o nível de governança corporativa das empresas nas quais investem. / Pension Funds are important institutional investors which hold a large amount of resources from the pension savings of their participants. In order to fulfill its main purpose (future benefit payments), Pension Funds need to invest their resources in the most profitable forms of investment, taking into account the time and the level of risk presented. The Principles for Responsible Investment - PRI were created in order to help them in this issue. The PRI consider that sustainable companies, in terms of environmental, social and corporate governance can generate higher shareholder value in the long run because they are better prepared to face future risks. Whereas Pension Funds can occupy a seat on the board of investee companies, seeking help them on issues addressed by the PRI, the present study has the main objective to analyze the relationship between activism practiced by a Brazilian Pension Fund, PRI signatory, and level of corporate governance and sustainable practices adopted by investees. To conduct this research three statistical models were developed and tested. The first model assesses the relationship between activism and environmental responsibility, the second evaluates the relationship between activism and social responsibility, and the last one evaluates the relationship between activism and corporate governance. Data were collected using the method of documentary research and were obtained from various sources. The sample used in this study was selected from the investment portfolio of PETROS - Petrobras Social Security Foundation, the second largest Pension Fund in Brazil. Forty one companies were considered, observed for a 10-year period (2001 to 2010). The methodology applied to the statistical models regression was the method of Panel Data, with random effects. Finally, the results were calculated and the rates of environmental responsibility, social responsibility and corporate governance of investees were analyzed before and after the presence of the activism of the Pension Fund. The results support the hypothesis that activism practiced by the Pension Funds is positively related to the level of socio-environmental performance and the level of corporate governance of companies in which they invest.