Acadian Asset Management Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary as PRI Signatory

According to PRI, Acadian was the first quantitative firm to join the PRI initiative one decade ago

BOSTON, Oct. 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Acadian Asset Management LLC, a leader in active global quantitative investing, is celebrating its 10-year anniversary as a signatory of Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI). As the first quantitative manager to join the PRI initiative, this milestone serves as a testament to Acadian's long history in adopting responsible investing practices and dedication to supporting a more sustainable and stable global market for years to come.

"We are very pleased that Acadian has been a valued signatory of the PRI for 10 years," said Fiona Reynolds, CEO of PRI. "During this time, ESG investing has evolved tremendously as an increasing number of asset owners, asset managers, service providers and other signatories have joined the PRI.  In joining PRI a decade ago, Acadian showed leadership in the investment management sector in recognizing the importance of ESG factors in systematic investment strategies and risk-controlled portfolios. We look forward to continuing to work with the team in the future," she added.

Highlights of Acadian's involvement with PRI over the last decade include:

• Serving on various committees, including the Technical Committee, which reviewed the PRI reporting framework from a regional standpoint and the Australasian Advisory Committee, which provides advice and support to the PRI in Australia and New Zealand, respectively;
• Joining collaborative engagements as a Leading Investor; topics have included encouraging Energy companies to improve transparency and disclosure of carbon data and developing a framework to develop a robust public disclosure framework for cybersecurity disclosure;
• Being a signatory of the Paris Agreement Global Investor Letter spearheaded by the PRI, among others, to urge G20 governments to continue to support and implement the Paris Agreement and drive investment into the low carbon transition

"We are elated and honored to be celebrating our decade-long partnership with PRI," said Asha Mehta, Director of Responsible Investing at Acadian. "We firmly believe that well governed businesses with responsible business practices have the potential to make a positive contribution to our portfolios over time, and our partnership with PRI has been vital to our efforts in fully integrating ESG into our process as well as aligning our clients' growing interest and needs surrounding ESG. We look forward to our ongoing work together and to carving a path for how ESG will continue to take hold in the future." 

Acadian was awarded "A+" ratings in the 2019 review period on Strategy and Governance and Incorporation by the PRI.

Additionally, the firm received an "A" rating on Active Ownership, underscoring Acadian's leadership and innovation in shareholder advocacy, which the firm believes is the next frontier of sustainability in asset management¹. Currently, Acadian prioritizes engagements that improve competencies in portfolio management and active stewardship, engaging via collaborative, Acadian-led and third party-led dialogues. Acadian engaged with 300 companies alone in 2018.

In addition, Acadian has made strides in embracing and embedding responsible investing as a core part of its business. These efforts include the launch and management of Acadian's Global Sustainability Strategy since 2012 and Fossil Fuel-Free strategy in 2017; the firm's active ESG factor research agenda and comprehensive reporting on ESG exposures and proxy voting.

To learn more about our responsible investing efforts, please reach out to [email protected].

About Acadian Asset Management

Acadian Asset Management LLC invests on behalf of institutional investors including pension funds, endowments, governments, and foundations, as well as individual investors. As of September 30, 2019, the firm managed approximately US$94 billion in assets under management. The firm uses an innovative array of disciplined, quantitative investment techniques and analytical models for active stock selection, as well as country, industry, and currency valuation. Acadian's strategies include multi-asset class strategies (MACS), managed volatility, emerging markets, global equity, small-cap, long/short, market-neutral, and non-U.S. equity strategies.

About PRI

The PRI initiative, backed by the United Nations, cooperates with an international network of signatories to implement the six Principles for Responsible Investment. It aims to identify the links between investment and environmental, social and governance issues, and to help signatories incorporate these issues into their investment and ownership decisions. The six Principles were designed by investors, bringing together 1,800 signatories from more than 50 countries, representing US$ 70 trillion of assets.

¹ Acadian Asset Management has been awarded these scores for the specific modules above in Strategy and Governance, Incorporation, and Active Ownership. These as well as additional module scores can be found in the assessment report which is compiled from Acadian's responses to the PRI Reporting Framework. The Transparency Report showing these responses is available on PRI's website. The scores are not indicative of any strategy performance returns nor are they indicative of future performance.

Media Contact:
Ciara Bartholomew
[email protected]
617-824-2137