Active Ownership

PFA follows a policy of active ownership, taking responsibility for the developments in the company that we invest in.

We take responsibility for our investments

PFA prioritises active ownership, where we use our equity in companies to exert our influence. We do so in order to create the best possible returns for our customers and because we believe that active ownership can be the most effective way of promoting a responsible development. If you divest yourself of equities in a company, you also give up on the opportunity to influence it. Therefore, PFA carries out a dialogue with companies and partners surrounding climate, environmental, social and governance issues, also called ESG factors, and votes at companies’ annual general meetings. 

PFA manages more than 95 per cent of the total investment funds internally, and therefore, we have insight into the companies that we invest in. This leads to good opportunities to enter into dialogues directly with companies in order to gain a deeper understanding of their business models and plans, and it also provides good opportunities for using critical dialogue to encourage companies to pursue a more sustainable approach. 

The active ownership dialogue requires a persistent effort over time, and this is why PFA is continually monitoring and screening its investments. Based on this, PFA enters into dialogues with companies based on two approaches: PFA has proactive dialogues with certain companies where PFA can help to move them in a more responsible direction in their specific areas – for example, by demanding requirements for their ambitions concerning the green transition. In addition, PFA has reactive critical dialogues with companies that have violated – or are suspected of having violated – PFA’s policy for responsible investments and active ownership. If the critical dialogue does not result in the desired improvements being made, PFA may choose to exclude the company. 

 
 

We screen our investments on an ongoing basis

It matters a lot to us that the companies we invest in act responsibly and comply with internationally recognised conventions and guidelines. Therefore, we are screening our investment portfolios on an ongoing basis to ensure that they meet these requirements. Among other things, we do so based on detailed ESG data.   

 

We prioritise dialogue over exclusion  

If we find that companies are not meeting our requirements, we will enter into a dialogue with them to influence them towards pursuing a more sustainable approach. 

The dialogue may be carried out either by PFA, our analysis company or via an investor partnership. Even though there may be commercial factors that are kept confidential, we want to be transparent about the progress of the dialogue.

See how our dialogues are progressing via our log

However, there are cases where we opt for exclusion when the dialogue reaches a dead end.

Learn more about exclusion

 

We use our votes 

We exercise our voting rights at annual general meetings. On this page, you can see how we have voted at annual general meetings.

Learn more here

International investor partnerships on dialogues

PFA has dialogues both on its own and in partnerships with other investors and business partners. For example, PFA is an active part of the investor-driven initiative called Climate Action 100+, which is aimed at bringing together a number of the largest international investors to work together to ensure that the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases are contributing to the green transition.

We are also a key actor in the Nordic Engagement Cooperation (NEC) investor partnership which, in addition to PFA, consists of Folksam from Sweden and Ilmarinen from Finland. NEC works together to carry out active ownership dialogues with companies where there are material climate/environmental, social or governance challenges. An annual report is produced on the efforts related to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.