RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT AND THE INSTITUTIONAL WORKS OF INVESTOR ASSOCIATIONS: THE CASES OF BRAZIL AND SOUTH AFRICA

This study examines how investor associations encourage Responsible Investment behaviour in Brazil and South Africa. Based on 44 semi-structured interviews with pension fund representatives, asset managers and other investment... [ view full abstract ]

This study examines how investor associations encourage Responsible Investment behaviour in Brazil and South Africa. Based on 44 semi-structured interviews with pension fund representatives, asset managers and other investment players, our evidence suggests that investor associations promote Responsible Investment behaviour by deploying three types of institutional work: they educate by improving investor awareness of Responsible Investment; they embed normative foundations into daily practices by offering Responsible Investment tools for ESG integration and by providing a forum for investors to engage collaboratively with investee companies; and they disconnect sanctions from rules by clarifying legislation on investor concerted action. Through highlighting the meaningful role of investor associations supporting their members to understand and integrate ESG issues and encouraging collaborative engagements, this article adds to the literature on institutional work explaining responsible behaviour, and it offers insights to investor bodies in other nations interested in fostering Responsible Investment practices in their own countries.