ABSTRACT
This chapter gives a brief introduction to Mercer's role as an investment consultant, its view of socially responsible investing (SRI) and its approach to SRI research. Investment consultants are organisations or individuals who are qualified to give investment advice to trustees and other responsible bodies. The advice can range from the appointment of investment managers through performance measurement to asset allocation. Mercer believes its global and comprehensive manager research capability is fundamentally important to its role as consultants in an increasingly globalised investment management market. Mercer's manager research consultants are engaged full-time in interviewing managers, analysing portfolios and conducting original research. Many pension fund trustees will be content to adopt the same corporate governance and corporate social responsibility policies as their managers, and to incorporate these policies into their statement of investment principles.
