Environmental, social, and corporate governance issues are financially relevant and can improve the risk-adjustment performance of any given company's investment portfolios.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Government Institution Pension Fund (GIPF), David Nuyoma, highlighted this at the launch of the institution's Responsible Investment and Active Ownership Policy in Windhoek.

Nuyoma noted the Fund's Trustees recognized the need to enhance and value their investment process by adopting the Responsible Investment and Active Ownership Policy.

The policy aims to facilitate the integration and implementation of environmental, social, and corporate governance considerations into all aspects of the Fund's investment activities. 

The UN Principal Responsibility Investment, to which GIPF has been a signatory since 2012, augments the ESG principles and standards.

Based on this, Nuyoma says,  the GIPF has recognised that applying these principles will better align investors with the broader objectives of the society. "Alignment with PRI may be in the personal interest and, at times, directly in the financial interest of our beneficiaries as society members. As an institutional investor, the GIPF acknowledges its duty to act in the best interest and long-term interest of its beneficiaries. We work for our members, and they are our prime focus."

Nuyoma revealed that the Fund's commitment to incorporate ESG into its investment activities sparked the development of the investment policy, proxy voting guidelines, and the Responsible Investment and Active Ownership Policy.