Santander AM pledges "green transition" on pension plans

Santander AM (SAM) has announced it is gradually incorporating ESG criteria to its pension plans portfolio range as part of the firm's pledges on actions related to sustainability.
Mi Proyecto Santander is a range of five pension funds worth €400m in assets under management that follows a life cycle investing style, which is the process of adjusting the defined contribution (DC) pension fund members' asset allocation over time to reflect their changing risk attributes and financial goals.
The implementation process will be taking place in two phases. During the first, which terminated in December last year, Santander incorporated ESG criteria to half of the entire range of pension plans. By the end of the second phase, expected to be close at the end of the present year, over 70% of the portfolio is expected to be managed following ESG principles.
The pension plans set is managed by the firm's Global Multi Asset Solutions team in Spain (GMAS) and includes the following five multi-asset global products: Mi Proyecto Santander Sostenible Smart; Mi Proyecto Santander Sostenible 2040; Mi Proyecto Santander Sostenible 2035; Mi Proyecto Santander Sostenible 2030andMi Proyecto Santander Sostenible 2025.
During the Sustainable and Responsible Investment SRI Forum held by SAM last June in Madrid, the company echoed it managed 66% of Spain's total assets under management in SRI strategies with nine funds of this kind, of which seven were registered in Spain, one in Portugal and one in Brazil.