Bloomberg Becomes First U.S.-Domiciled Corporate Retirement Plan Sponsor to Sign the PRI

October 12, 2017 /3BL Media/ - Bloomberg today announced at the Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summit that it has become the first U.S.-domiciled corporate retirement plan sponsor (ERISA plan sponsor) to join the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). By joining, Bloomberg will incorporate the six, voluntary Principles for Responsible Investment into its investment practices. The principles align closely with Bloomberg’s commitment as a financial data provider to integrate sustainable business and finance considerations into its operations, products and services.

Bloomberg thoroughly reviewed opportunities to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into the company’s global retirement plans. This included adding an ESG-themed equity fund to its U.S. 401(k) plan options and updating the plan’s Investment Policy Statement to integrate ESG considerations into plan management and monitoring decisions.

As a PRI signatory Bloomberg emphasizes its role as fiduciary – putting the interests of its retirement plan participants first. A primary driver for Bloomberg’s decision to join the PRI was to enable its employees to pro-actively integrate ESG-themed funds into their own retirement investment strategies.

“Bloomberg is committed to providing data and insights on ESG issues for its clients. This content is available on the Bloomberg Terminal. Research shows that firms who manage these issues well, often provide better long-term returns. Our employees are long-term investors, and giving them the choice to take ESG criteria into consideration in their retirement planning strategy was a logical next step,” said Dom Maida, Global Head of Global Data at Bloomberg L.P. and Chairman of Bloomberg’s Investment Committee.

“This is really exciting – not many companies offer ESG-themed funds, as of yet, to their employees through their corporate retirement plans. By signing we are saying that we think the investment world has matured to the point where organizations like ours can think about integrating ESG issues into their investment policy considerations. The PRI is a great platform for sharing best practices with other companies,” added Cathy Bolz, Head of Global Benefits at Bloomberg L.P.

“This is a significant move by Bloomberg, which will send an important signal to other retirement funds that ESG should be a part of every investment vehicle,” said PRI managing director, Fiona Reynolds.  “We want workers to have a dignified retirement and part of achieving this is to ensure that the funds in which they are invested, and which they rely upon in later years, are taking advantage of using ESG factors to better manage risk and identify new opportunities.”

Bloomberg is already a PRI signatory in its capacity as a service provider since October 09, 2009. There are currently a total of 1,823 global signatories. Sixty-eight other PRI asset owner signatories are also categorized as corporate pension or retirement providers. These are either based in Europe, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico or South Africa. As a signatory, Bloomberg will submit a yearly transparency report to PRI outlining its approach to integrating ESG factors.

To read more about Bloomberg's Sustainability initiatives, view the 2016 Impact Report.