GEMINI has good reasons to promote more sustainability in investments: focussing on the environment, social justice and good governance has a positive impact on investment risk. That’s because companies which adopt exemplary practices in all three sustainability dimensions are less likely to come under pressure if, for instance, stricter environmental regulations or labour laws come into force. Investors appreciate this stability, which also benefits the pension fund members.

Direct dialogue on ESG topics

When it comes to sustainability, GEMINI relies on professionals to maximise its impact, which is why the Collective Foundation joined the Ethos Engagement Pool Switzerland and the Ethos Engagement Pool International two years ago. The Pools bring together institutional investors, such as pension funds and collective foundations, who discuss ESG issues directly with companies in Switzerland and abroad. Ethos acts as the mouthpiece for the pool members. Its sustainability experts engage directly with CEOs and boards of directors to suggest improvements. Annual reports show the progress companies have made in various aspects of sustainability – and where there is still room for improvement.

The members of the Engagement Pools are actively involved in selecting the topics that Ethos discusses with the companies: among the issues they consider important are diversity on executive bodies and boards, water supply or the fight against plastic pollution and deforestation. What’s more, the pension funds and collective foundations are given access to Ethos’ international ESG analyses – a valuable source of data that provides a general basis for sustainable asset allocation.

Collaboration with Ethos

The GEMINI Collective Foundation was already working with Ethos before it joined the Engagement Pools. For instance, the fund management follows the recommendation made by Ethos when exercising voting rights for the Swiss equities mandate.