Institutional investors pledge to address global nutrition challenges
53 institutional investors representing USD$12.4 trillion in assets under management present pledge
to support the realization of World Health Organization nutrition targets
Utrecht, The Netherlands; December 7, 2021 – 53 institutional investors, members of the Access toNutrition Initiative (ATNI) Investor Group, have today published a new pledge acknowledging the global
nutrition crisis and pledging to take action on nutrition.
The pledge recognizes the mutual benefit to investors, businesses and society of taking action onnutrition, and urges policy makers to support a global shift to healthy packaged food, using fiscal andregulatory measures where necessary, and strengthening commitments to achieving national and global
WHO targets.
As part of the pledge, signatories commit to use the framework of the Investor Expectations on Nutrition,
Diets and Health, engage directly with all 20 listed food and beverage companies in the ATNI Global Index
2021, disclose information about this engagement and use the insights it generates to inform investment
research and decisions.
On Tuesday, December 7, Akihiko Nishioka, President and CEO of Resona Asset Management presented
the pledge at the plenary session of the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit 2021 (at 21:35 JST /12.35 GMT). This is the first time that institutional investors have been part of a multi-lateral nutrition
summit.
The pledge also calls on all food and beverage companies to commit to reporting annually on thepercentage of their sales generated by healthy products, using the Health Star Rating nutrient profilingmodel (or equivalents) to define healthy products, and use the ATNI Investor Expectations on Nutrition,
Diets and Health framework to deliver better outcomes on nutrition.
53 institutional investors are signatories of the pledge, representing USD$12.4 trillion in assets undermanagement (AUM). The signatories are all members of the wider ATNI Investor Signatories group,
representing USD$ 16.6 trillion AUM, and are thus supporters of the Investor Expectations on Nutrition,
Diets and Health – an engagement framework developed by ATNI in 2020 to spur greater investor
engagement with companies to address global nutrition challenges and deliver the Sustainable
Development Goals.
The pledge follows a new report from ATNI, released last week, showcasing action on nutrition bymembers of the ATNI Investor Signatories group. The report outlines how eight different asset managers
and investor coalitions adopt ESG integration, negative/exclusionary screening, corporate engagement
and shareholder action, best-in-class/positive screening and sustainability themed/thematic investing tocontribute to the realization of SDG2 ‘Zero Hunger’ and SDG3 ‘Health and Wellbeing’.
Inge Kauer, Executive Director at the Access to Nutrition Initiative, said: “Institutional investors have acrucial role to play in tackling the global nutrition crisis. Firstly, as responsible businesses, all investors
need to help combat the issue of poor nutrition, which drives high levels of death and preventable noncommunicable diseases, while also putting individuals at greater risk from communicable diseases such as
COVID-19. What’s more, the high individual, societal and economic costs of poor diets and nutrition
impact on investor holdings, portfolios and asset values in the short, medium and long term – meaningthat there is clear mutual benefit to investors, businesses and society of taking action on nutrition.
“Through this pledge, institutional investors will be coming together as part of a multi-lateral nutrition
summit for the first time, representing a landmark moment in how we use investment to solve one of theworld’s most pressing issues. ATNI is proud to be working with these forward-thinking investors to help
reach global nutrition targets and create a healthier future for all.”Professor Tim Benton, Research Director, Emerging Risks; Director, Environment and Society Programme,
Chatham House, said: “Poor nutrition leads to underweight, short stature, overweight, obesity, and thedisorders and non-communicable diseases arising from poor diet including anaemia, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers. It is a global driver of ill-health, and associated with about one quarterof all adult deaths per year. The direct healthcare costs associated with poor diets are significant. Take
diabetes, one disease strongly associated with obesity. In the US, there about 23 million sufferers, costingan estimated USD 327bn in 2017, with direct healthcare costs of USD 9,600 per person. By 2025, it isestimated that globally there will be over 700 million people with diabetes. In an equitable world, even if
a global average cost of diabetes per capita were a quarter of that in the US, the total economic cost of
diabetes alone would be approximately 2% of global GDP. But poor diets not only cause human sufferingand healthcare costs, they also lead to poor educational attainment, and productivity losses due toabsenteeism and presenteeism – through for example lack of stamina – that can be considerable. For
example, productivity losses associated with underweight and obesity may be up to 2.8% of GDP across asample of Low and Middle Income countries, and the additional losses due to micronutrient deficiencies
and childhood malnutrition on education may be of the same order of magnitude.”Frank Wagemans, Senior Engagement Specialist at Achmea Investment Management; Board Member ofthe Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF) and Co-Chair of the ATNI Investor Signatories Group, said: “Theinvestor pledge illustrates the urgent action required from companies, investors and governments toaccelerate progress on global nutrition. Investors understand not only the macroeconomic drag posed bynutrition, but also the profound societal impact of malnutrition which we see as a financial and societal
material risk. As investors we urge both companies and governments to commit to ending malnutrition
and to grasp the opportunities that arise by doing so.”Cathy Rowan, Director – Socially Responsible Investments at Trinity Health and Co-Chair of the ATNI
Investor Signatories Group, said: “Tackling the systemic issue of nutrition and diet-related healthdisparities requires all stakeholders to make bold commitments: the food industry to focus on increasingthe healthiness of their products; all businesses to improve access to nutrition for their workforce; andgovernments to ensure a supportive regulatory and fiscal environment for driving improvements innutrition. It is excellent to see investors joining the summit and using their influence alongside otherstakeholders to tackle the global nutrition challenges.”
Akihiko Nishioka, President and CEO at Resona Asset Management, said: “Resona Asset Management
joined ATNI this year as an endorsing organization to encourage food and beverage companies to focus
on nutrition. Resona Asset Management is one of Japan's leading long-term investors with 35 trillion yen(US$300 billion) of asset under management. We have been facing various social issues around the worldand have been working together with our portfolio companies to overcome these issues.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors
The full Investor Pledge, along with the full list of the 53 signatories, is available here (in English) and here(in Japanese).
The Institutional investors’ approaches to addressing nutrition, diets and health report published by ATNI
is available here. ATNI does not provide investment advice. The information in this report does notconstitute financial or investment advice.

The Investor Expectations on Nutrition, Diets and Health, supported by 76 institutional investors
representing USD$16.6 trillion in AUM, are available here (English) and here (Japanese).
Contacts
María Dolben Mantilla maria.dolben@greenhouse.agency +34 639 917 571
Madeleine Lynch madeleine.lynch@greenhouse.agency +44 07446 054 146
Eleanor Ross or Olivia Nelson at Teamspirit: rathbones@teamspiritpr.com +44 07392 106925

About the Access to Nutrition Initiative
ATNI is a not-for-profit organization established in 2013. It publishes independent, comprehensive
analysis and commentary on companies’ efforts to improve consumers’ access to nutritious foods andbeverages, both globally and within specific markets. Assessing producers of breast-milk substitutes andcomplementary foods is an integral part of ATNI’s work. ATNI collaborates with a wide range ofstakeholders, including the investment community, to ensure that its Indexes and reports are a useful toolas they engage with and invest in companies. ATNI is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth andDevelopment Office (FCDO), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs(DGIS), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), Irish Aid, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition(GAIN), and the Guy’s and St. Thomas’s Foundation.