1. Adherence to Fiduciary Responsibility: The Institute believes that officials residing over pension funds should be held to a high degree of fiduciary responsibility, consistently making decisions on investment that will benefit the long-term growth and security of the fund. Consistent dividend yield, resistance to market flux and strong corporate credit ratings are just a few variables that must be taken into account by these individuals. Often times outside interests have pressured pension funds and other entities to divest from certain investments under political pressures, which would subject pension funds to lower financial returns. This divestment would violate a pension fund’s fiduciary responsibility.
2. Balanced Economic, Social, and Governance (ESG) Factor Investment: Accounting for ESG factors in investments can prove to be advantageous with greater transparency and consistently high returns. With more than 80% of all corporations releasing ESG factor reports, options are plentiful for the investment of pension funds into holdings with positive ESG outlook. ESG factors should not dictate a political agenda for guiding public investment decisions.
3. Long term Pension-Fund Return: When investing with pension funds and other long-term payout entities it is imperative that long-term stock stability be sought after in the investment process. Part of the responsibility of the managers of pension funds is to identify long-term, low market volatility investments that will allow for prolonged growth and a sustaining of pension budget health for years on end.
4. Data-Driven Investment: The scourge of pension fund investments over the last decade has been a reliance on the emotion and politics of the investment manager and a distrust of basic market data and investment principles. IPFI believes that smart investing stems from the reliance on market data, on the research of economic patterns and on the reliance of strong data over loud voices. Investments driven by social and political factors are irresponsible and lead to the cessation of funding for pensioners for the beliefs of some activists.