Pension fund board member Evalinde Eeelens spoke at last week’s Impact Investor Conference about how pension funds can navigate geopolitical uncertainty and fiduciary duty while staying aligned to impact.
The impact investing sector has allowed environmental issues to dominate to such an extent that governance is being neglected, according to Evalinde Eeelens, keynote speaker at last week’s Impact Investor Conference in The Hague.
Eelens, board member of a number of Dutch pension funds, a professional trustee and founder of Ravenna Consulting, told delegates that regulators and investors are currently overly focused on climate and biodiversity at the expense of the governance structures needed to manage long-term, systemic risks.
“Ninety percent of guidance for ESG risk management is about the E. This dominant environmental lens can inadvertently marginalise governance issues, impairing holistic risk management,” she said.
Eelens went on to highlight the responsibility of Dutch pension funds, which collectively manage €1.5trn, and warned that rising geopolitical tensions are pushing funds into “extreme home bias”, thereby concentrating risks in the Netherlands and exposing members to the same volatility they already face in their domestic life and labour markets.
Moreover, as impact investing matures, pension funds must evolve with it, as member preferences are becoming increasingly polarised, she added.
She noted that pension funds often hold diverging views on what constitutes a sustainable investment, ranging from questions about divesting from weapons to debates over whether defence should have a place in an impact portfolio.
For Eelens, fiduciary duty is an evolving concept, aligning increasingly with societal expectations.
“It’s not about my principles. I’m not a beneficiary. It’s about living up to the expectations of our members in the most responsible way,” said Eelens.
Four steps for pension funds
Impact investing has moved from the margins to being fundamental in how institutional investors think about long-term value creation and systemic stability, Eelens added.
“Traditional diversification no longer provides the same comfort. Systemic risks from climate to social unrest can erode long-term value just as easily as market fluctuations,” she said.
Looking ahead, Eelens urged pension funds to follow four steps:
First, she called for pension funds to embrace long-termism, not just as an investment horizon but as an organising principle.
Second, pension funds should integrate and measure impact as integral to performance, measuring both financial returns and real-world effects as standard practice. Third, pension funds should collaborate by pooling the Netherlands’ €1.5trn in assets and working with asset managers, policymakers and academics to build shared data and coherent regulation.
Finally, she urged pension funds to invest in people by equipping trustees, analysts and managers with the skills to navigate complexity and drive the transition economy.
“The sophistication of our governance can be our greatest asset, but it won’t build itself,” said Eelens.
