The AIMCo Board of Directors approves the Responsible Investment Policy and receives updates on responsible investment activities, performance and progress as requested.
AIMCo's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Kevin Uebelein, is chair of the Responsible Investment Committee (RIC), an internal committee comprised of department heads, senior VP's and select department representatives. Kevin Uebelein is also a director at the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance (CCGG) and chairs the Member Engagement Committee as well as a member of the Governance Committee. Kevin has participated in meetings, corporate engagements and events organized by CCGG.
AIMCo's Director of Responsible Investment reports directly to the Chief Investment Officer (CIO), thereby enabling fit for purpose strategies for each investment department.
AIMCo is a founding partner of the G7 Investor Leadership Network (ILN), an open and collaborative platform for leading investors addressing sustainability and long-term growth. Robin Heard, AIMCo's Chief Financial Officer, is AIMCo's lead representative to the ILN Steering Committee comprised of leading global institutional investors. Together with our partners, representing more than $6 trillion in AUM, we have joined and pledged to commit resources, expertise and networks to further three initiatives:
- Infrastructure Fellowship Program: Bridging the infrastructure gap by providing academic use and practical training to senior public-sector infrastructure managers from developing and frontier markets. AIMCo Representative: Ahmed Mubashir, Portfolio Manager, Infrastructure & Renewable Resources
- Diversity in Investment: Increasing recruitment, retention & promotion of diverse groups, starting with women, in senior leadership positions and investment roles, in both developed and emerging markets. AIMCo Representative: Tamara Owchar, Director, Quantitative Investments
- Climate Disclosure: Speeding up investors' implementation of uniform and comparable climate-related disclosures under the TCFD framework by building on existing guidance and best practices. AIMCo Representative: Alison Schneider, Director, Responsible Investment
AIMCo's Director of Responsible Investment reports quarterly to the RIC. AIMCo's CEO (as the Chair of the RIC) reports on responsible investment activities to the Investment Committee on an as needed basis.
AIMCo's Chief Compliance Officer is a member of the RIC and leads the Compliance department who implement AIMCo's Investment Exclusions. Compliance has responsibility for updating the exclusions list quarterly, and ensuring, in pre-trade clearance processes, that a filter for excluding companies is applied for all directly held investments.
AIMCo features ESG materials in our board education portal which is maintained by the Chief Corporate Officer (CCO).
Portfolio managers are consulted on proxy votes for the companies on our strategic watch list. The Responsible Investment department makes ESG data and research available to all investment staff (portfolio managers and investment analysts).
The Responsible Investment department works to implement AIMCo's Responsible Investment Pillars which include the following:
- Responsible Investment Structure [policies and guidelines]
- Investment Process [including proxy voting and investment research across portfolios]
- Engagements with companies [including identification of companies that fit our ESG focus areas and/or strategic watch list]
- Reporting and Communications [internal, clients and general public]
- Collaboration and Advocacy [including interactions with policymakers, regulators and investor peers]
- Training & Education [internal and external]