Vanguard Group has urged companies to disclose how climate change could affect their business and asset valuations

Call for climate change risk disclosures, news.com.au AUGUST 25, 2017 Ross Kerber, Reuters Vanguard Group has urged companies to disclose how climate change could affect their business and asset valuations, reflecting how the environment has become a priority for the investment industry.

Under pressure from investors, Vanguard and other fund companies have pushed to pass several high-profile shareholder resolutions on climate risk at big energy firms like Exxon Mobil Corp and Occidental Petroleum Corp during the northern Spring proxy season.

Vanguard manages about $US4 trillion ($A5.1 trillion) and is often the top shareholder in big US corporations through its massive index funds – giving it a major voice in setting corporate agendas.

Vanguard, the biggest US mutual fund firm by assets, had not supported climate activists on similar measures. But Glenn Booraem, Vanguard’s investment stewardship officer, said in a telephone interview on Monday the issue as well as shareholder proposals have evolved.

“Our support for these proposals is not a matter of ideology, it’s a matter of economics,” he said.

“To the extent there are significant risks to a company’s long-term value proposition, we want to make sure there is long-term disclosure of those risks to the market.”

Vanguard earlier this year changed its proxy voting policies to give more leeway to support resolutions tied to climate risk, but until now it has given few details about its thinking unlike rivals State Street Corp or BlackRock Inc……http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/breaking-news/call-for-climate-change-risk-disclosures/news-story/2577352981a4bd0ecab44c222cef7d37