With the support of Insight Investment

Better Returns in a Better World

The Role of Institutional Investors in poverty alleviation and development.

The overall objective of this project is to assess the potential for investors to contribute to poverty alleviation through their investment activities. The project also aims to raise investor awareness of the importance of poverty alleviation as a corporate responsibility issue, to identify the key barriers to institutional investor action on poverty alleviation and development, and to develop proposals to help overcome these barriers.

The project considers the potential contribution of investors in three areas: (a) as allocators of capital, (b) as influences on the policies and practices of those companies in which they invest (with a particular focus on transnational companies which operate in developing countries and on developing countries’ domestic companies), and (c) as influences on the public policy debate around poverty alleviation and related issues such as climate change.

The Project Elements

The project will comprise of three distinct stages.

Initial Launch

An initial briefing note – Responsible investment as a force for development: framing the debate – will be launched on 4 November 2008 by Dame Barbara Stocking at a breakfast event with investors. Oxfam will use the event as an opportunity to invite investors to participate in the project (in particular, through contributing to the roundtables) and to seek initial input to the scope and objectives of the project.

Roundtables

In order to explore the questions around the role of investors in poverty alleviation, Oxfam will organise five workshops over the period January – October 2009. The workshops will focus on the following topics:

  1. Why should poverty-related issues be integrated in asset allocation and investment decision-making? Does their omission put financial value at risk, or does their inclusion help create financial value?
  1. Can poverty-related issues be incorporated into investment analysis? Can company performance on poverty-related issues be measured? How can these data be incorporated into investment analysis and decision-making?
  1. What are the appropriate time frameworks for considering poverty-related issuesin investment practices? Are current investment time horizons appropriate?
  1. What should be the objectives of investor engagement on poverty-alleviation and development? Is engagement best conducted on specific issues within the development agenda or is it possible to have an integrated approach? Are there specific issues that are presently overlooked by investors?
  1. What reporting is required? What information should companies report to enable their contribution to poverty alleviation to be assessed? What information should investors provide to enable their contribution to poverty alleviation to be assessed?

For each roundtable Oxfam will prepare a stimulus piece to frame the debate. Each event will involve a small group of investors and experts with a special interest in and/or knowledge of the subject.

Sessions will be closed to press and public and Chatham House rules will apply; a brief note of the key issues raised and conclusions reached at each meeting will be published on the project website.

Final Briefing/Project Conclusion

A final briefing paper will conclude the project. This paper will compile the findings of the project, identify areas where investors could play a greater role in poverty alleviation, and present proposals for future work in this area. The paper will be presented to investors at an event in London in November 2009.

Website

Oxfam will set up a special web page for the project where all of the project information will be made available, including, for each roundtable, a list of key references, publications and resources, along with any materials we produce. This will also include the facility for people to post comments, and provide information. (

Better Returns in a Better World – project outline 1