Products March 26, 2009

ComplianceRADAR Helps Sponsors Monitor Investment Managers

Northern Trust has launched a tool designed to make it easier for institutional clients to manage the workflow and reporting needs related to oversight of investment managers.
Reported by

According to a press release, ComplianceRADAR offers clients the ability to quickly identify breaches of investment guidelines, document actions towards resolving the breaches, and run summary and detailed reports to assist clients with a variety of audit and management requirements. ComplianceRADAR is available via Passport, Northern Trust’s Web portal, and offers an online dashboard to support the real-time oversight of all guideline breaches.

Northern Trust said that using the new tool, clients can:

Want the latest retirement plan adviser news and insights? Sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters.

  • manage Exception Reports (guideline breach notifications) they receive as subscribers to Northern Trust Compliance Analyst, which enables clients to flag certain breaches as “action” types so they can more quickly resolve the items
  • input notes directly onto the dashboard so they can more easily keep track of their activity and next action steps
  • run reports via an accessible reporting function that provide information on each investment policy breach, executive summary reports to help document the compliance monitoring process, and highlight the results.

 

 

More information is available at www.northerntrust.com.

 

 

 

 

The Markets March 26, 2009

TIAA-CREF Steps Up Efforts in Sudan Divestment

TIAA-CREF said it plans to intensify pressure on target companies that maintain business relations with the Sudanese government, and will divest from companies that fail to take meaningful steps to do so within a reasonable time.
Reported by

In an announcement, TIAA-CREF said it will:

  • seek meetings between TIAA-CREF executives and executives of target companies to encourage them to take positive and meaningful humanitarian steps;
  • publicly endorse the U.N.-sponsored Principles for Responsible Investment. Signatories include institutional investors with a combined $2.5 trillion in assets under management with whom TIAA-CREF will join to urge companies operating in Sudan to confront human rights abuses;
  • call upon other financial services companies to follow its lead and increase pressure on target companies.
  • According to the announcement, if target companies—PetroChina, CNPC Hong Kong, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Sinopec, and PETRONAS—refuse to meet with TIAA-CREF, it will divest promptly. If they agree to engage in a productive dialogue, TIAA-CREF said it will continue to hold their shares as long as progress continues and as long as portfolio management concerns warrant.
  • Companies that take meaningful steps to discourage the conflict in Darfur will be removed from the target list.

A pdf of TIAA-CREF’s policy statement on corporate governance is here.

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

«