Responsible Investment

Protecting and enhancing the long term value and reputation of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund

Responsible Investment Reports and Publications

The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund as a large and long-term investor in Ireland has a duty to actively contribute to the sustainability of the Irish economy for future generations and to encourage others to do the same.

ISIF believes that responsibly managed companies are best placed to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage and provide strong, long-term investment opportunities. Organisations that manage ESG factors effectively are more likely to endure and create sustainable value over the long term.

ISIF endeavours to be a responsible investor, actively integrating ESG factors into its decision-making processes with a view to enhancing the overall outcomes for the Fund and ultimately its beneficial owner. ISIF, through its predecessor the National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF), was a founding signatory to the PRI in 2006 and has continuously reviewed, adapted and enhanced its approach to Responsible Investment (RI) in response to both mandate and strategic changes since then.

Strategy

Sustainability and Responsible Investment Strategy for Ireland Strategic Investment Fund

Responsible Investment Publications

View ISIF's recent responsible investment publications

Responsible Investment

As a responsible investor, it understands that ESG factors present both risks and opportunities in those sectors most directly affected by sustainability issues. ISIF aims to focus on several ESG issues – climate change, emissions and governance issues such as board structure and gender diversity. Climate change is a critical issue for the Fund. It is embedded as a priority investment theme. The Fund focuses on ensuring its whole portfolio, third party managers, and investee companies are considering potential climate risks and opportunities as appropriate and that it is suitably captured as a part of decision making and portfolio management in multiple ways. ISIF believes that diversity is a key in securing a sustainable recovery and ongoing business resilience, and has become more active in its approach to new and existing investments in relation to investees’ approach to gender diversity.

Active ownership or stewardship involves investors using their formal rights (e.g. the ability to vote shareholdings) and informal influence (e.g. their ability to engage) to encourage companies to improve its management systems, ESG performance or reporting. This approach has been a key element of the ISIF Sustainability and Responsible Investment Strategy for several years. EOS at Federated Hermes provides Active Ownership services for the Global Portfolio. The ISIF team conducts engagement and analysis in respect of the Irish Portfolio of investments.

Find our latest Voting, Engagement and Disclosure reports

There are a number of industries in which ISIF does not invest. ISIF aims for exclusions to be limited in number and are in effect a “last resort” approach to responsible investment when other avenues are inappropriate or are deemed to be ineffective. The Fossil Fuel Divestment Act 2018 provides for the divestment by ISIF from fossil fuel undertakings, building on ISIF’s existing investment exclusionary strategy in respect of cluster munitions and anti-personnel mines, coal production and processing, and tobacco manufacturing. Read our exclusions on our reports page.

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