The principles for responsible investment (PRI) shape how investors manage risk, create long-term value, and engage with the companies they support. Many organisations know the language. Fewer know how to apply it. This page helps you understand the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, why they matter, and how the Global Advisory Alliance (GAA) supports practical adoption.
The United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (often shortened to UN PRI) were launched in 2006 to encourage investors to integrate environmental, social, and governance factors into investment decisions. They are voluntary, but the expectations around them are no longer optional.
Over 5,000 signatories now represent more than US$120 trillion in assets. Asset owners expect their managers to follow the framework. Regulators reference it in supervisory guidance. Boards cite it in governance discussions.If you invest capital, manage strategies, or report to clients, you are already operating in a PRI-shaped world.
The principles themselves are simple. Implementing them is not.
The full Principles for Responsible Investment are available on the PRI website.
These principles of responsible investment guide how investors incorporate ESG into analysis, ownership, and reporting. Here they are in clear, practical terms:
You look at climate risk, governance quality, social impacts, and other material factors when assessing value, risk, and opportunity.
Example: Considering supply chain resilience in a manufacturing company before investing.
You engage with companies, ask questions, and track progress over time.
Example: Meeting with a board to discuss executive compensation and risk oversight.
You expect transparent reporting that helps you assess performance.
Example: Requesting Scope 1–3 emissions data from portfolio companies.
You encourage peers to raise standards.
Example: Supporting stewardship initiatives or participating in industry working groups.
You collaborate when collective influence delivers better outcomes.
Example: Joining a collaborative engagement on biodiversity or labour standards.
You disclose what you have done, what worked, and where the gaps remain.
Example: Publishing a stewardship report aligned with PRI and local regulatory codes.Most organisations say they follow these principles.
The challenge is showing credible, consistent evidence.
You face increasing expectations from asset owners, clients, and regulators. These are no longer soft commitments. They influence investment mandates, due diligence, and selection processes.
You already feel these pressures:
- Requests for detailed ESG integration evidence
- Expectations around escalation and engagement
- Demands for high-quality stewardship reporting
- Board-level questions about governance and oversight
- Growing scrutiny of climate, nature, and social risks
- Rising interest in real-world outcomes, not just policies
The principles of responsible investment give the industry a common language. But your stakeholders look for proof, not statements.
The conversations we have with asset owners, asset managers, and corporates point to common difficulties.
Organisations often invest effort into drafting policies but lack clear processes for applying them. Analysts work from different assumptions. Engagements follow inconsistent steps.
Teams struggle to show a clear link between analysis, decisions, engagement, and outcomes. Data is fragmented and evidence trails are thin.
Boards often struggle to understand how oversight should work. Committees lack clear reporting lines. Responsibilities overlap.
You depend on inconsistent datasets. You need to show decision-useful analysis. You face the risk of over-reliance on ratings.
You engage with many companies, but your resources are limited. You need a system that prioritises what matters most.
Global portfolios face different standards, disclosure regimes, and stakeholder expectations. Aligning everything is not simple.These challenges slow progress. They also expose reputational and compliance risks.
The Global Advisory Alliance supports organisations that want credible, actionable, and measurable responsible investment frameworks. Our advisors have led ESG, governance, and stewardship programmes for pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, asset managers, and global corporates.
You build clear processes for how ESG insights feed into decisions, oversight, and engagement. Roles, workflows, and escalation paths become consistent.
You build a coherent engagement strategy, identify priority themes, design escalation steps, and train teams. You show how stewardship influences outcomes.
You test how ESG analysis is incorporated into decisions. You get improvements that analysts and portfolio managers can apply immediately.
You link the principles to climate strategy, net-zero targets, and biodiversity considerations. You avoid fragmented or inconsistent commitments.
You understand material ESG exposure. You see where you need stronger engagement or deeper analysis.
You produce PRI-aligned reporting that is clear, robust, and evidence-based. You reduce the complexity for your internal teams.
You build understanding of the principles, their implications, and the decisions leadership teams need to make.
Every service connects back to the six principles. You create consistency across your investment process, stewardship activity, and reporting.
ESG integration becomes part of your process, not a compliance obligation.
You choose fewer priorities and deliver deeper results.
You can demonstrate activity, outcomes, and lessons learned.
You reduce governance risk and improve oversight.
Teams work from the same framework, even across regions.
You show consistency and transparency in how you manage capital.If your organisation wants to mature its responsible investment practices, this is the level you should aim for.
Get a focused 60-minute session with a senior GAA advisor to review your PRI alignment.You walk away with three clear priorities to strengthen governance, stewardship, and ESG integration.
Receive a structured assessment of your responsible investment framework, investment processes, and reporting approach.You get a concise 6-page memo with practical recommendations your board or investment team can act on immediately.
See our Responsible Investment services to learn how we support organisations applying the principles for responsible investment in practice, and meet advisors such as Kelly Christodoulou and Anna-Stina Wiklund who specialise in this work.
Anna-Stina Wiklund
Anna-Stina brings experience from a Nordic pension fund, shaping responsible investment policy and ESG integration.
She guides investors and corporates on SFDR, CSRD, and investment policy upgrades, linking regulatory demands with practical implementation. Her work strengthens governance structures around stewardship, disclosure, and investment decisions.
Kelly Christodoulou
Kelly has over a decade of frontline responsible investment experience inside a major Australian superannuation fund.
She embeds PRI principles into investment processes, risk systems, and board-level decision-making.
She helps organisations build credibility by grounding ESG in materiality, financial analysis, and clear stewardship expectations.
Work with seasoned advisors who’ve led change at the highest levels. Each member of the Global Advisory Alliance brings real-world experience and practical insight - giving you direct access to the expertise you need, without the layers you don’t.
.svg)
