Eumedion, the Dutch corporate governance and sustainability platform for institutional investors, has welcomed the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) as its newest member.
Rients Abma, Eumedion’s director, said: “As a reputable player, CalPERS will add weight to our efforts to improve corporate governance and sustainability at Dutch listed companies, as well to our influence on policymakers in both the Netherlands and Brussels.”
He said the US pension fund was the first to join the Dutch platform, adding that CalPERS’s investments in the Netherlands totalled approximately €900m.
CalPERS becomes the second-largest pension fund among Eumedion’s 70 members, after the €373bn Dutch civil service scheme ABP.
Eumedion membership is available to all institutional investors with a stake in companies listed in the Netherlands.
Approximately 50% of the organisation’s members are pension schemes; three lobbying organisations for pension funds are affiliated members.
Currently, the platform has 12 foreign members, including the UK’s Universities Superannuation Scheme, Railpen and Capital Group, as well as US-based asset manager BlackRock.
According to Abma, Eumedion’s members manage approximately €4trn in assets.
He added that their combined investments in the Netherlands covered 25% of Dutch listed equity.
Eumedion recently called for engagement with fossil fuel companies rather than divestment.
It also argued against granting extra voting rights or a ‘loyalty dividend’ for long-term investors, “as this would chiefly benefit governments and families at the expense of other investors”.
The proposal was part of the EU’s Shareholder Rights Directive.
Eumedion is chaired by Peter Borgdorff, director of the €178bn Dutch healthcare pension fund PFZW.
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