Current rules drive short-term profit-maximization and undervalue longer-term and macroeconomic risks.
Mark Wilson, CEO of Aviva, the UK insurance giant, called on the UN, OECD and G20 to establish a global definition of fiduciary duty to shift the regulatory focus. Short-termism “can have the unintended consequence of hampering sustainable investment,” Wilson said at a London conference.
Aviva has launched a human rights index to rank companies on human rights policies. Wilson wants a global benchmark to track how companies are meeting the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (Dutch asset manager NN Investment Partners has created something similar).
An SDG benchmark, Wilson said, would spur competition to implement sustainability practices.
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