Responsible investment

We invest pension assets profitably, securely and responsibly. We shoulder our responsibility for pension assets and the sufficient funding of the pension system by ensuring the return generated by the pension assets and our solvency.

As part of our investment activities, we broadly consider environmental, social and governance aspects in addition to financial factors. Responsible investment is a crucial objective for us as a long-term investor, as the investment decisions we make impact the operational conditions of our investees. We believe that the ESG aspects can, over time, affect investment returns across companies, sectors, regions and asset classes.

In our investment activities, we seek to identify risks and investment opportunities on a comprehensive basis, and the responsibility aspect is one element of this assessment. Responsible investment is our way to endeavour to secure the long-term return of our investments while also ensuring that risks and opportunities are taken into consideration as extensively as possible in our investment decisions. Moreover, as a social actor, we shoulder our share of responsibility for advancing sustainable development within society.

At Veritas, the framework for responsible investment consists of our Principles for Responsible Investment, Climate Policy for Investments and our Ownership Policy. In addition to this, we have signed the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and report on the responsibility aspects of our investment activities to the PRI annually. We have been a signatory to the PRI since 2012.

Active ownership and engagement

At Veritas, responsible investment refers to a commitment to responsibility and that is why active ownership plays a key role. As an investor, we endeavour to address the fundamental ESG aspects of our investments instead of surrendering in the face of problem situations and leaving the issues for someone else to resolve. Real-world impacts are not achieved by exiting investments.

We engage in dialogue with companies and asset managers, vote at Annual General Meetings and participate with other investors in collaborative initiatives for the purpose of, for example, exerting influence on companies to report on climate mitigation efforts. Furthermore, we ensure that our investments are in compliance with international norms. More information on engagement and our active ownership can be found later in this report under the section Ownership Policy.

Collaboration with other investors

In addition to the PRI, we have signed the Fiduciary Duty in the 21st Century, and the Climate Action 100+ and Nature Action 100 initiatives. We are members of the CDP community, as well as of Finland’s Sustainable Investment Forum (Finsif).