PFZW sees responsible investment as the means to integrate sustainability. PFZW seeks to achieve this by making choices with regard to investments and the way in which the pension fund acts as a player at the beginning of the financial chain, as well as through other responsible investment activities described in this document. The implementation of responsible investment has largely been outsourced to the asset manager, PGGM. PFZW's responsible investment policy provides an umbrella and sets the framework for implementation by the asset manager.
PFZW's responsible investment policy is based on the following convictions with regard to PFZW's role and responsibility:
1. PFZW assumes responsibility to help build an inhabitable and more sustainable world in which participants receive their pension.
2. PFZW can contribute to a more sustainable world by harnessing the driving force of money. The large amount of capital entrusted to PFZW has a huge sociatal impact. That creates potential but also entails responsibilities. By managing the capital in a targeted way, PFZW can stimulate a positive contribution to a viable world and minimise any negative impact.
3. A sustainable, inhabitable world is necessary to generate sufficient returns in the long term. The way in which the world has been treated in past decades is no longer viable. It has led to fragile social, ecological, financial and economic systems. PFZW firmly believes that this will impact future investment results. In order to fulfil our pension ambition, both now and in the future, we must exercise greater care in handling the ultimately scarce resources for economic growth, such as raw materials, people and capital.
4. On the basis of conclusions drawn from a growing number of surveys, PFZW firmly believes that sustainability factors increasingly have a material impact on the risk-return profile of investments. Integrating sustainability in the investment policy contributes to returns over the long term.