New York State Teachers Retirement System (NYSTRS)

In terms of female representation in leadership positions, NYSTRS has a gender-balanced board of directors where 5 out of 10 members are women.

NYSTRS has established its own list of companies to engage with on climate change. Additionally, as a member of Climate Action 100+ as well as Ceres and the Council of Institutional Investors, the financial institution discloses that it collectively engages with its clients on the topic of climate change.

No leading practices were identified for the financial institution in the adhering to societal conventions measurement area.

In terms of its approach to senior leadership accountability, there is no evidence that NYSTS assigns responsibility for sustainability to the group’s board, and it could link the remuneration of its executive or management teams to sustainability performance criteria. No evidence was found that the financial institution is committed to gender equality and women’s empowerment. It has an opportunity to disclose the proportion of women in senior leadership roles as well as how it addresses any gender pay gaps. NYSTRS has an opportunity to describe its engagement approach on sustainability themes and impact topics with clients and investees.

There is no evidence that NYSTRS discloses a target to reach net-zero financed emissions by 2050. It could disclose that alignment with the Paris Agreement as one of its engagement priorities with companies to which it provides financial services. NYSTRS also has an opportunity to disclose its financing activities devoted to climate solutions. Regarding nature and biodiversity, no evidence was found that the financial institution is committed to minimising its negative impacts or financing regenerative solutions. Moreover, no evidence was found regarding the financial institution’s approach to fossil fuels, such as the amount or share of finance it directs towards fuels, or its stance on financing companies with new fossil fuel projects.

There is no evidence that NYSTRS has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights and the financial institution has an opportunity to describe a comprehensive process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts across all its activities, especially its financing activities. The financial institution has an opportunity to disclose the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by age group, gender and race. To provide transparency on financial inclusivity, the financial institution has an opportunity to disclose the amount of finance directed towards, for example, women-owned businesses, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or low-income developing countries.