As an active owner, PGGM urges companies to implement decarbonization strategies appropriate to their businesses and aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. We also focus on encouraging climate solutions that accelerate society's transition and will benefit their long term performance.
As an investor working for pension funds with strong ties to the healthcare sector, PGGM wants to play its part in helping people live healthy, prosperous lives. We therefore invest in healthcare solutions but also engage with companies to address subjects such as prevention and good access to affordable healthcare.
PGGM seeks to contribute to a society in which economic development is not at the expense of human rights. In taking our responsibility to respect human rights, we adopt standards such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). We ask companies to not only identify salient human rights risks in their business and supply chains but also ensure that a robust policy and implementation plan are in place to safeguard human rights.
On the basis of the following three ‘active ownership’ activities, PGGM fulfils the rights and responsibilities associated with being a shareholder in listed companies:
Voting rights are one of the most important ways to influence the course of a business. We therefore vote on the basis of our own judgement at meetings of shareholders. For each company, PGGM publishes its voting record and an explanation.
Download our voting guidelines here.
As a pension investor we see it as our responsibility to engage with market parties and companies about their policies and activities. In this way, we attempt to reduce ESG-related risks and to stimulate companies to grow a positive footprint on society. In 2022, we started a special engagement program for the fossil fuel sector: in a transparant, step by step approach, we aim for a portfolio of fossil fuel companies which have truly committed themselves to the Paris Climate agreement.
Our Responsible Investment Implementation Framework provide more information on how we develop the ‘Engagement’ instrument. See which companies we engaged with in 2021 here and read more about our progress and challenges in our Integrated Annual Report.
When necessary, we institute legal proceedings against companies on behalf of our clients as shareholder, to recover any investment losses and enforce good corporate conduct. Read more about current proceedings in our Integrated Annual Report.
PGGM wants to avoid making investments that are deemed unacceptable to us or our clients. This is why we do not invest in controversial weapons or tobacco in the PGGM mutual funds and in mandates we manage internally for individual clients (hereinafter ‘PGGM funds’). Furthermore, in the PGGM funds we exclude investments in government bonds issued by countries, if those countries are submitted to sanctions of the UN Security Council and/or the European Union. These sanctions can be the result of a situation of severe and systematic violations of human rights, or the use of controversial weapons.
For more information on the exclusion of companies and government bonds, see the Exclusion Guidelines of the PGGM Execution Framework for Responsible Investment (PDF). See the companies and countries that we exclude here.
PFZW press release: The first phase of the fossil energy programme of PFZW announced in February 2022 has been completed.Shares in 114 companies in this sector have been sold, and discussions with a select group of companies about their climate ambitions have been intensified.
October 20th, 2022, The Netherlands – Earlier this year, we, a group of like-minded Dutch investors, published a statement outlining the objectives that oil and gas companies should pursue to be aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Joint statement of institutional investors with combined AuM of EUR 1.48 trillion
‘PFZW urges a rapid transition of the fossil fuel sector, without which we will not meet the climate targets,’ said Joanne Kellermann, Chair of PFZW.
