Asset consultant Frontier Investment Consulting will establish a unit that will be responsible for overseeing environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing issues for its client base.
The unit will appoint an ESG specialist who will focus on manager ratings, listed and unlisted assets and integrating ESG factors into broader investment portfolios.
"We thought it was the right thing to do. We are also signatories to the United National Principles for Responsible Investing (UNPRI)," Frontier managing director Fiona Trafford-Walker said.
"This unit should move us faster towards integrating ESG factors within the asset allocation process."
The unit would not operate as a profit centre for the firm, Trafford-Walker said.
"The staff within the unit will work with our consultants and investment managers in addressing risks around governance, social and climate change factors," she said.
Frontier has 13 superannuation funds as clients.
"Our large client funds collectively manage $70 billion in funds under management and they are also signatories to the UNPRI," Trafford-Walker said.
"As universal owners of companies, these ESG risks need to be addressed and it is an issue we will be focusing on."
The unit is expected to be established later this year.
