A pandemic which remains out of control in many parts of the world is and should be at the top of our agenda as global investors, and also for governments and the companies in which we invest.”
Achmea will vote against any executive pay packages that do not integrate these objectives, it added, though voting policy among the other signatories may vary.
In addition, the business case is clear: new variants threaten the recovery of economies around the world,”
Financial Times
Adrienne Klasa and Donato Paolo Mancini in London
January 6, 2022
Drugmakers are urged to prioritise fulfilling contracts for international vaccine distribution schemes such as Covax ©
Drugmakers need to prioritise global access to Covid-19 vaccines and tie management pay to equitable distribution, say a group of top international investors.
Nomura, BMO and GAM are among 65 institutional investors that have written to top pharmaceutical companies urging them “to make the global availability of vaccines part of the remuneration policy of managers and directors”. The signatories represent more than $3.5tn in assets under management.
“It is clear that currently a large part of the world population still does not have sufficient and equitable access to vaccines,” the investors said in the letter, published on Thursday.
“A pandemic which remains out of control in many parts of the world is and should be at the top of our agenda as global investors, and also for governments and the companies in which we invest.”
A pandemic which remains out of control in many parts of the world is and should be at the top of our agenda as global investors, and also for governments and the companies in which we invest.”
While advanced economies including the UK, US and Israel have begun administering third and fourth doses to their populations, as well as inoculating young children, less than 8 per cent of the 1.3bn population of the African continent has been fully vaccinated.
Financial Times analysis published last month shows the quantity of boosters administered in richer countries outnumbers the first two shots given in poorer nations.
The World Health Organization has called on companies and governments to help reach a vaccination target of 70 per cent in every nation after almost half of its member states failed to reach the 40 per cent milestone by 2021, mostly because of severe undersupply.
Aggressive boosting could see gaps in vaccine supply early this year, the WHO has warned.
Drugmakers should prioritise fulfilling contracts for vaccine access schemes Covax and African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) “as a matter of urgency”, the investors wrote, and provide transparency and clear monthly supply schedules to these distribution alliances as well as to low and middle income countries.
Drugmakers should prioritise fulfilling contracts for vaccine access schemes Covax and African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) “as a matter of urgency”
They added that companies should negotiate areas such as delivery swaps with countries that already have high coverage, and commit to greater expertise and technology transfer including licensing rights.
“Pharmaceutical companies have a duty to do their utmost on this but unfortunately we see that they are lagging behind.
In addition, the business case is clear: new variants threaten the recovery of economies around the world,”
said Rogier Krens, chief investment officer of Achmea Investment Management, which co-ordinated the letter.
In addition, the business case is clear: new variants threaten the recovery of economies around the world,”
Achmea will vote against any executive pay packages that do not integrate these objectives, it added, though voting policy among the other signatories may vary.
Achmea will vote against any executive pay packages that do not integrate these objectives, it added, though voting policy among the other signatories may vary.
The emergence of the highly infectious Omicron variant in southern Africa in December highlighted the consequences of failures to vaccinate vast swaths of the world’s population.
Global markets stumbled and many countries were forced to bring in new lockdown measures in an effort to halt the spread.
Most of the 65 investors that signed the letter hold small stakes in the three of the biggest vaccines manufacturers — Moderna, BioNTech and Pfizer.
- The largest by some distance is BMO Global Asset Management’s 0.3 per cent stake in Pfizer, worth $1.04bn,
- while Achmea’s largest pharma holding is 0.01 per cent stake in Johnson & Johnson valued at $41.1m, according to S&P Capital IQ.
Originally published at https://www.ft.com on January 6, 2022.
Names cited
Nomura, BMO and GAM
Rogier Krens, chief investment officer of Achmea Investment Management
