Transcript Slide 1

Engaging with investors in the mining
and metals sector: Research Findings
Aidan Davy, Claire White, Rory Sullivan
www.icmm.com
Background

Investors are starting to pay more attention to the
mining and metals industry’s environmental and
social performance.

In 2011, ICMM commissioned Dr Rory Sullivan to
help ICMM and its members develop a better
understanding of how investors view the
industry’s performance on environmental and
social issues.

This Briefing Pack presents the findings of
ICMM’s research. The results are presented in
three areas:
 The coverage of the mining and metals industry in the
responsible investment press.
 The coverage of the mining and metals industry in the
reports issued by responsible investment research
organisations.
 Investors’ views of the mining and metals industry’s
social and environmental performance.
More than 1100 investment-related
organisations (including over 250 asset
owners and 660 investment managers) have
signed the UN Principles for Responsible
Investment (as at 24 August 2012).
Investors’ views on social and environmental
issues are critically important to the mining
and metals industry because of:
•
The reputational implications for
individual companies
•
The reputational implications for the
sector as a whole
•
The potential for these views to influence
investment decisions.
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The ICMM Investor Focus Project
The ICMM Investor Focus Project involved:
 A review of ICMM’s historic investment-related research and engagement with investors
 Meetings with over 30 responsible investment organisations in Europe, North America
and Australia: asset owners, asset managers, SRI research organisations, investor
collaborations.
 A review of mining and metals-related articles on the Responsible Investor website.
 A review of the mining and metals-related reports published by SRI research companies.
A Note on the Findings: There are some significant differences between the issues covered in the responsible
investment press and in responsible investment research reports, and the issues that were identified by investors as being
of importance to them. These should not be interpreted as implying a divergence in views but rather as reflections of (a)
the different roles that the press, research organisations and investors play, (b) the research methodology (in particular the
focus of the investor interviews on wider social and environmental issues, rather than ‘today’s controversies’).
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Press coverage 1
Analysis based on all articles relating to the mining and metals-related articles posted on
the Responsible Investor website (http://www.responsible-investor.com/) from 1 January
2011 to 20 January 2012. In total 74 articles were found.
Tone of articles
Number of Articles by Topic
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
positive
14%
negative
55%
neutral
31%
Positive articles included:
 Comparisons of the mining and metals
industry’s reporting and/or performance with
other sectors.
 Industry statements (e.g. support for EITI).
 ICMM reports/publications
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Press coverage 2
Coverage Focuses on Investor
Interests
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Note: Articles referring to AGMs primarily related to
US companies (where the use of shareholder
resolutions is much more common than in Europe).
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Responsible investment research reports
We identified 19 responsible investment-related reports on the social and environmental
performance of the mining and metals industry that were published in 2011.
Number of Reports by Subject
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Human rights
Revenue
transparency
Pollution
Water
Climate
change
Health and
safety
Notes:
1. A number of reports covered multiple subjects.
2. The reports that compared the mining and metals industry to other sectors tended to be quite positive about the
sector. This reflects the fact that many of these reports were benchmarking management systems, processes and
reporting, all of which are areas where the mining and metals industry has focused significant attention.
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Interviews with responsible investment
organisations 1
Over the period January-August 2012, ICMM held over 30 meetings with key responsible
investment organisations - asset owners, asset managers, SRI research organisations,
investor collaborations - in Europe, North America and Australia.
While there are differences in the importance that investors assign to specific social and
environmental issues, and in the manner in which investors use social and environmental
information, four core themes emerged from the investor meetings:
 Effectively managing social and environmental issues is an integral part of delivering high
quality mining projects.
 Investors expect companies to be aware of social and environmental risks, to have
appropriate policies, systems and controls in place to manage these risks, and to report
on performance.
 Investors have more confidence in companies that have good risk management systems
and provide high quality disclosures on their social and environmental performance.
 While certain issues (e.g. health and safety, climate change) are routinely considered in
investment research, there is on-going discussion about how social issues (e.g. human
rights) can be incorporated into investment models and decisions.
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Interviews with responsible investment
organisations 2
There was a broad consensus around the social and environmental issues that
investors are most concerned about:
 Environmental: water, tailings disposal, oil sands.
 Social: Free prior informed consent (FPIC), human rights and security, operations
in conflict zones.
 Economic: revenue transparency, local economic development.
 Governance: relationships with junior mining companies, remuneration.
While responsible investors generally focus on overall corporate responsibility (or
social and environmental) performance, they are disproportionally interested in
projects that are particularly challenging or risky.
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Interviews with responsible investment
organisations 3
Performance
 Environmental and social
performance is recognised as an
integral part of the industry’s social
licence to operate.
 The mining industry is seen as having
significantly improved its performance
over the past ten years, in particular
in relation to health and safety,
environmental management, security
and human rights, and the strategic
use of social investment.
 On-going areas of concern include:
community relations, climate change
(mitigation and adaptation), resource
curse, bribery and corruption.
Reporting
While reporting by ICMM member
companies is generally recognised as
high quality, there are areas where
reporting falls short of what investors
expect:
 Controversial projects.
 Outcome-based reporting.
 Governance mechanisms (e.g.
grievance processes).
 Relationships with junior mining
partners.
 Safety, in particular underlying causes
and actions taken to prevent
recurrences.
 Stakeholder views.
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For further information
please e-mail us at:
Aidan Davy ([email protected])
Claire White ([email protected])
Rory Sullivan ([email protected])
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