OPTrust Expands Green Bond Investments in Ontario
TORONTO, March 7, 2019 /CNW/ - OPTrust, one of Canada's largest defined benefit pension plans, has built on its existing Green Bond holdings with a $100 million investment in Ontario government Green Bonds. This brings OPTrust's total Canadian Green Bond holdings to roughly one per cent of total assets under management. The Government of Ontario uses Green Bonds as a tool to help finance transit and energy efficiency projects. Ontario is currently the largest issuer of Canadian dollar Green Bonds.
"As a pension management organization, it is critical that we invest and manage our portfolio in alignment with our members' interests," said OPTrust CIO James Davis. "Our investment in Ontario Green Bonds aligns not only with the interests of our members, but the interests of the province and environment as a whole."
As a responsible investor, OPTrust integrates environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into its investment decision-making processes and ownership practices. This investment builds on OPTrust's extensive investment experience in renewable power and green real estate.
"For OPTrust, the purpose of responsible investing lies in the recognition that ESG factors can impact investment risk and return," said Davis. "As a long-term investor, we look at challenges and opportunities that could affect members and their retirement security across multiple generations. Climate change presents a real, measurable risk to our members that cannot be ignored in our investment approach."
In June 2018, OPTrust released a Climate Change Action Plan which contains eight areas for action, including building climate risk into OPTrust's investment approach and pushing for increased disclosure of climate change-related information from portfolio companies. In 2017, OPTrust also became one of the first pension plans to report in accordance with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
OPTrust's Climate Change Action Plan, along with the 2017 Responsible Investing Report are available at optrust.com.
About OPTrust
With net assets of over $20 billion, OPTrust invests and manages one of Canada's largest pension funds and administers the OPSEU Pension Plan, a defined benefit plan with over 92,000 members and retirees. OPTrust was established to give plan members and the Government of Ontario an equal voice in the administration of the Plan and the investment of its assets through joint trusteeship. OPTrust is governed by a 10-member Board of Trustees, five of whom are appointed by OPSEU and five by the Government of Ontario.
SOURCE OPSEU Pension Plan Trust Fund
Media Contact: Claire Prashaw, Manager, Public Affairs, OPTrust, 1-416-681-3617, [email protected]
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