Historic Global Investors Meeting
Added: 22nd September 2011
40 participants representing church investors from North America, Europe, Australasia and Africa met in Paris on 14 September for an event hosted by the Church Investors Group (CIG) of Britain and Ireland.
Church investors have often collaborated across international borders, most recently in response to crises at News Corp and BP. As investment portfolios become more global, the need for trusted partners in other regions has become more important. Local engagement expertise can be combined with aggregated global church shareholdings to create a powerful lever for improving corporate performance on environmental, social and governance issues.
One example of future work relates to next year's London Olympics. US investors are working through the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) to reduce corporate complicity in human trafficking and modern day slavery. CIG has now agreed to take this forward with UK-listed hotel groups.
Richard Nunn, Chair of CIG, said: "It is important we use our voice as investors to hold companies to high ethical standards. This meeting has helped us form alliances around issues important to church investors"
Laura Berry, Executive Director of ICCR, remarked: "As ICCR celebrates its 40th anniversary, we were delighted to participate in this pioneering event hosted by our friends from CIG. Inspired by the success of this gathering, ICCR will continue to support future events, looking towards our February gathering in New York City as a potential venue".
Bishop Jo Seoka, representing the South African Church Investors Group, gave the keynote address and commented: "I recall the important role played by church investors in the fight against apartheid and look forward to their involvement in creating a fairer society in the future."
The Methodist Church In Ireland are members of the Church Investors Group of Britain and Ireland.
Its representative at the Meeting was Mr. Neil Morris.
Mr. Morris can be contacted at 90458560
Issued by: Rev. Roy Cooper
Communications Officer
(07710945104)
