Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan

The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan details and investor engagement process in its Sustainable Investing Policy to monitor and manage sustainability factors post-investment. This includes voting proxies, actively participating in private company governance as board members or board observers and regularly evaluating how external investment managers are integrating ESG factors into their organisations. It also includes a clear framework with success criteria and escalation points in the event that engagement with investees is unsuccessful.

The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan discloses a group level target to reach net-zero financed emissions by 2050. It also discloses investments of CAD 398 million in climate-resilient and clean energy infrastructure and approximately CAD 450 million invested in climate solutions and the transition to a net-zero future within its public equity portfolio. Moreover, the financial institution discloses absolute financed emissions for its real estate portfolio and discloses the underlying data quality and coverage of its financed emissions.

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

There is no evidence that the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan assigns responsibility for sustainability issues to the group’s highest governing body. While the financial institution promotes a diversified and inclusive workplace culture for everyone, no evidence was found that it commits to gender equality and women’s empowerment. It has an opportunity to disclose how it is addressing the gender pay gap as well as the representation of women in senior roles.

While the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan discloses an interim target for its real estate portfolio to reduce carbon emissions in its direct investments by 50% by 2030 on an absolute basis, no evidence was found related to interim targets to reduce financed emissions across its assets under management. The financial institution has an opportunity to disclose the key sectors and companies identified as priorities to engage with on climate issues, specifically alignment with a 1.5°C trajectory. Furthermore, no evidence was found regarding the financial institution’s approach to fossil fuels that spans across the fossil fuel value chain, such as the amount or share of finance it directs towards fuels, or its stance on financing companies with new fossil fuel projects.

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan has an opportunity to describe a comprehensive process for identifying human rights risks and impacts across all its activities, including its financing activities. There is no evidence that the financial institution discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by age group. Furthermore, to provide transparency on financial inclusivity, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan has an opportunity to disclose the amount of investments directed towards low-income developing countries.