Bloomberg LP announced Thursday it had joined the Principles for Responsible Investment in its capacity as a retirement plan sponsor, making it the first U.S. corporate plan sponsor to join the network of investors advocating for sustainable investing.
By joining, Bloomberg agrees to implement six voluntary principles for responsible investment into its investment practices.
“A primary driver for Bloomberg’s decision to join the PRI was to enable its employees to proactively integrate ESG-themed funds into their own retirement investment strategies,” the company said in a news release.
Bloomberg added an ESG-themed equity fund to the lineup of its $2.4 billion U.S. 401(k) plan in June 2015, a Bloomberg spokeswoman said in an email. It also updated the plan’s investment policy to integrate environmental, social and governance considerations into the plan’s management and monitoring, according to the release.
“Bloomberg is committed to providing data and insights on ESG issues for its clients,” said Dom Maida, global head of global data at Bloomberg and chairman of Bloomberg’s investment committee, in the release. “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.”
Bloomberg already belongs to the PRI in its capacity as a service provider.
There are 1,823 PRI signatories total. Aside from Bloomberg, 68 signatories are corporate pension or retirement providers. They are based in Europe, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico and South Africa.
The PRI is supported by the United Nations.