The Sampension community, which includes Sampension Livsforsikring, Arkitekternes Pensionskasse, PJD and ISP Pension, is now further strengthening its focus on working with responsible investments. This happens with the appointment of Jacob Ehlerth Jørgensen as Head of ESG per. December 1st.
He comes from a position as Chief Legal Officer in the investment area in the Sampension community, where he has also so far been a regular part of the work with ESG (which covers environmental and climate, social and managerial issues in the companies where the Sampension community is an investor). Previously, he has i.a. held various positions in Danske Bank and the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority.
“We have increased our focus on working with ESG in recent years, and we are now further stepping up that work with the appointment of our new ESG manager as well as additional resources for the area. The strengthened ESG focus must i.a. contribute to realizing our goal of reducing the climate footprint of the overall investment portfolio in line with the Paris Agreement and to climate neutrality by 2050, ”says Jesper Nørgaard, Deputy Investment Director.
An important part of that work is dialogue with the companies in which the Sampension community invests on climate change. And here, the more ESG resources will concretely mean that the Sampension community in general can further intensify the dialogues – including with companies in the most emissions-heavy sectors.
“We experience that today there is a greater willingness among companies to enter into dialogue with us and other investors about e.g. climate impact, tax payments and other issues that are important not only for the company and investors, but also for society in general. Businesses are generally easier to talk to than just a few years ago, and e.g. they now generally respond more quickly to the first call for dialogue than before. It is an expression of a general movement where companies take ESG more seriously than before and recognize it both as a risk parameter for their business and part of their social responsibility, ”says Jacob Ehlerth Jørgensen, Head of ESG.
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