Annual Report 2019
February 2020
The Toolbox – an aid to implementing the Agreement
The end of the first year of the Agreement saw publication of the Toolbox for the Dutch Pension Funds Agreement on Responsible Investment. This assists pension funds to work with the various components and provisions of the Agreement.
After much hard work and as agreed in the Agreement, the Parties jointly developed a set of guidelines. The Toolbox contains specific advice for participating pension funds regarding their policy, contracts with external service providers, monitoring and reporting, in order to incorporate or improve responsible investment. It explains the text of the Agreement and makes suggestions for texts that pension funds can use in their policies and contracts with external service providers.
Monitoring use
The use made of the Toolbox will be monitored over the coming years. The Toolbox working group will draw up a list of possible points for improvement and will continue to improve the Toolbox. All participating pension funds are expected to have brought their ESG policy into line with the OECD Guidelines and UNGPs by the end of the second year of the Agreement.
Supplementary theme overview
The working group is currently drawing up an overview of themes. This is intended to assist pension funds to develop policy regarding specific themes that they have identified as risks from their due diligence or which their participants have prioritised. The overview will become part of the Toolbox and can be added to during the term of the Agreement.
Gerard Roest, FNV-bestuurder, lid stuurgroep
Cedric Scholl,
PGGM Adviser on Responsible Investment
“Trade unions, the Government, NGOs, and pension funds jointly developed the Toolbox during the first year of the Agreement on International Responsible Investment. I’m proud of the result. The Toolbox contains model texts and a detailed explanation of the provisions of the Agreement. We have managed to strike a balance between detail and practical applicability. To further assist pension funds in using the Toolbox, we have already scheduled two knowledge sessions for 2020.”