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On July 24, the Bureau of Labor Funds (BFL) announced that they are promoting “socially responsible investment” (SRI). With the goal of maximizing earnings, the BFL now takes into consideration corporate governance and corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance of companies in their selection process for investments. By the first half of this year, investments in companies that received CSR-related evaluations reached NT$ 528.4 billion, comprising 97% of domestic stock investments.
 
In recent years, SRI has been an emerging concept in the field of international financial investment. Taking CSR and other relevant factors into consideration in the investment process not only helps funds increase returns on investments, but also provides benefits to the whole society.
 
BFL states that their investment policy statement includes a “Socially Responsible Investment Policy”, which states: “With the goal of maximizing earnings, BFL considers the corporate governance and CSR performance in their selection process for investments.”
 
In recent years, labor funds have been fiduciary outsourcing according to two CSR indices: the TWSE RA Taiwan Employment Creation 99 Index and the TWSE High Salary 100 Index. This trend has been encouraging TWSE and TPEx-listed companies to hire more employees, raise salary levels, and improve working conditions for employees to fulfill social responsibility duties.
 
In addition to the SRI strategy of selecting investments by gauging their positive and negative aspects, institutional investors often implement shareholder activism to urge companies to fulfill social responsibility duties. In addition to investing in “good” companies, investors also actively guide them toward “good” practices.
 
BFL states that to promote the employment of people with disabilities, they have been notifying invested companies whose quota for employees of people with disabilities have not yet been met. To date, the number of people with disabilities hired by these companies has increased by 600 at a rate of 83%.
 
BFL states that they will continue to pay attention to international trends and promote SRI  in their investment strategies.  While taking earnings into consideration, BFL will continue to lead companies in fulfilling social responsibility duties.