17 & 20 May 2021  Virtual event on Zoom

This workshop brought together IOPS Members and international sustainability standard-setters to take stock on recent developments in sustainability disclosure.

On this first day, a panel of speakers and commentators from various international standard-setting organisations and from the pension community provided updates on sustainability disclosure developments.The presentations were followed by Q&A sessions. Findings from this meeting informed the discussion amongst IOPS members on how to implement our IOPS Supervisory Guidelines on the Integration of ESG Factors in the Investment and Risk Management of Pension Funds.

The second day was dedicated to a discussion on the way to proceed with the implementation of the Guidelines. The discussion expanded beyond sustainability disclosure matters and also focused on the integration of ESG factors and stress testing.

Participation in this workshop was by invitation only.

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DAY 1

• Mrs Helen Rowell, Deputy Chair, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and IOPS President

II. Update on sustainability disclosure developments: international bodies

• Mrs Helen Rowell, IOPS President

Speakers:

• Mr Christian Thimann, Vice Chair of Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD)

• Mr Lee White, the Executive Director of the IFRS Foundation International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation (IFRS)

• Mr Frank Elderson, Chair of Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), Co-chair of the Basel Committee of Banking Supervision Task Force on Climate-related Financial Risks (TFCR)

Commentators:

• Dr Margarita Pirovska, Director of Policy and Research, Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)
  
  
• Mr Conor Donaldson, Head of Implementation, International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS)
  
  
• Mr Sheldon Mills, Co-chair of the IOSCO Sustainability Task Force workstream on sustainability-related disclosures for issuers, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), Executive Director, Consumers and Competition at the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK
  
  

III. Update on sustainability disclosure developments by pension community (pension funds and supervisors) Pension funds investment landscape: market trends and supervisory challenges

• Mr André Laboul, IOPS Secretary General

Panellists:

• Mr Thomas Tayler, Senior Manager, Sustainable Finance, Aviva Investors

• Mr Olano Makhubela, Divisional Executive: Retirement Funds Supervision, Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), South Africa

• Mr Charles Counsell, Chief Executive, The Pensions Regulator, the UK
  
  
• Mr Mike Harut, Manager, Equities Research and Engagement,Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI), Australia 

Closing remarks by:

• Mr Brendan Kennedy, Chair of the IOPS Technical Committee, Pension Regulator, The Pensions Authority, Ireland

 DAY 2

IV. IOPS Secretariat: issues for discussion related to the implementation of IOPS Guidelines

V. Follow up of the Workshop

Moderator:

• Dr Olga Fuentes, IOPS Vice President, Head of Strategic Research and International Affairs, Superintendence of Pensions, Chile

VI. Discussion on how to implement IOPS ESG guidelines

Moderator:

• Mr Brendan Kennedy, Chair of the IOPS Technical Committee, Pension Regulator, The Pensions Authority, Ireland

Panellists:

• Ms Alice Law, Deputy Chairman & Managing Director at Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) Hong Kong (China)

• Dr Olga Fuentes, IOPS Vice President, Head of Strategic Research and International Affairs, the Superintendence of Pensions

• Mrs Stephanie Siering, Senior Officer, Insurance and Pension Funds Supervision, Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), Germany

• Dr Pablo Antolin, Principal Economist and Head of the Private Pensions Unit, Deputy Head Consumer Finance, Insurance, Pensions (CFIP) Division, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Closing remarks by:

• Mrs Helen Rowell, IOPS President and Mr Brendan Kennedy, Chair of the IOPS Technical Committee

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RELATED DOCUMENTS

IOPS Supervisory Guidelines on the Integration of ESG Factors in the Investment and Risk Management of Pension Funds (2019)

Pensions Briefing: Incorporating ESG factors in pension investment activity, Dariusz Stanko, IPE Magazine (April 2020)

Pension funds want ESG guidelines, CarlosRamirez  Fuentez,Top1000funds.com (2018)

CONTACT
For more information please contact the IOPS Secretariat: [email protected]