Investor responsibility and Norway's Government Pension Fund - Global

Abstract

This article identifies and critically examines three different aspects of investor responsibility. First, investors have responsibilities toward their clients (the so-called fiduciary duties). Second, investors are responsible for taking steps to reduce the risk that an investment directly or indirectly contributes to harm (avoid complicity). Finally, investors should take into consideration the symbolic and signalling effects of an investment decision. This article discusses how these responsibilities should be interpreted and also how they play out in practice. Norway's Government Pension Fund is used as a case in point.