SHARE Investor Summit Day 2

Indigenous reconciliation has entered the mainstream business dialogue, signalling a historic and transformational opportunity for the relationship between capital markets and Indigenous peoples. Asset owners have a critical role in this process through their engagements with consultants, asset managers, investee companies, and regulators to demand commitments, plans, and actions to advance Indigenous reconciliation. This panel will provide asset owners with a road map to action, from the foundational principles of Indigenous reconciliation to the new benchmarks for corporate practices and disclosures and opportunities for collaboration between Indigenous and allied investors.

For Asset Managers, Investment Consultants and other Service Providers

Client expectations around stewardship and voting are changing, and as asset owners raise concerns around net zero objectives, racial equity and reconciliation, how can asset managers help their clients to pursue their goals within the context of their investment portfolios? How do we respond to client expectations with the best approaches, data and communications so that we are better service providers and can be a partner in developing meaningful solutions? And how do we work together collectively, even as competitors? This special caucus session will provide asset manager and service provider participants with a window into what’s coming down the pipeline from clients and an opportunity to explore and learn from each other about effectively meeting client expectations.

For Trade Union Representatives, Labour-Nominated Trustees and Investment Committee Members

Labour-nominated trustees often speak of the challenges they face in considering ESG factors appropriately in their roles as fiduciaries. It can be difficult for trustees to raise workers’ rights issues. Changing expectations mean investors are grappling with how best to mitigate social issues and their associated risks. In this session, we will discuss critical questions: How can labour-nominated trustees effectively raise workers’ rights issues at the board table within a fiduciary framework? How can we build on best practices and the latest fiduciary understanding and guidance to become more successful in mobilizing workers’ capital? Join the Canadian Capital Stewardship Network (CCSN) as we make space for trade union representatives and union-nominated asset owner board members to reflect and strategize on the intersections between labour movement priorities and the investment of workers’ deferred retirement savings.

A Gathering for Foundations, Universities, Indigenous Trusts and Religious Investors

Asset owners like universities, foundations, trusts and other institutions depend on external asset managers to execute on their investment policy, including through asset selection and stewardship strategies such as proxy voting. Yet often, there can be a disconnect between asset owners’ own goals and intentions and their managers’ approaches and voting records. Setting expectations is one thing; monitoring, evaluating, and changing practices is another. This special caucus session will provide participants with an opportunity to explore and learn from each other about effective oversight of external asset managers, focused on critical issues like climate change and net zero objectives, racial equity and reconciliation, and human rights. What’s working, how can we raise the bar collectively, and what can we achieve in the coming year?

Faced with systemic risks across sectors or the whole economy, collaborative investor initiatives are proliferating. What are the essential characteristics of successful engagement on sectoral and systemic issues? What should asset owners consider when deciding to collaborate? What structures, mandates and resources help drive change? This panel will examine these questions through case studies of three investor collaborations for sectoral and systemic change.