Asset owners are in the best position to lead market transformation, because they sit at the top of the investment chain as the ultimate institutional clients of all financial services, and their long-term liabilities align their interests with sustainable growth.
Through the mandates they set for external managers, they set the direction of markets: if asset owners fully and effectively implement responsible investment commitments, they will accelerate its development throughout the investment chain. Accordingly, the PRI is an asset owner-led organisation, and this is reflected in the PRI’s governance and activities.
Asset owner members represent seven out of the ten PRI board members. Our Governance page takes you through how we are structured, and has more details on your rights as a signatory, and PRI’s Articles of Association
The PRI accepts asset owners who meet all of the following criteria:
- long-term investment motivation and
- institutional investor at the top of the investment chain, directly accountable to beneficiaries or the government and
- investment discretion, including asset allocation, over all or most of its assets, (e.g. not subject to the direction of independent financial advisors (IFAs), or beneficiaries) and
- stable non-commercial governance arrangements or legislative frameworks (i.e. capital preservation and/or retirement provision is the primary motive, and they are ultimately answerable to pensioners or the government rather than shareholders).
Examples of typical asset owner signatories: corporate pension (superannuation, retirement or provident fund or plan), non-corporate pension (superannuation, retirement or provident fund or plan), development finance institution, endowment, family offices, foundation, insurance company, sovereign or government-controlled fund.
AUM definition
You will be asked to enter your organisation’s assets under management (AUM) as part of the application process, as well as the date that you complete your annual report.
Please include your organisation’s total AUM in US$ billion, including the assets of all your consolidated subsidiaries.
The figure reported should represent total gross AUM, including uncalled commitments (e.g. in private equity or infrastructure) and policyholders’ funds, off-balance-sheet assets and their portion of joint venture (JV) assets (where relevant). The AUM figure should refer to the market value. Where market value is unavailable, we advise signatories to report the latest net realisable value estimate of those assets.
Please provide the amount in USD – applicants can check the exchange rate of their currency to USD on the International Monetary Fund website (please use a dot as a decimal separator).
Fees
The PRI is a not-for-profit organisation and signatory fees and other revenue are spent on delivering value to our diverse signatories, driving responsible investment through opportunities for learning and development, sharing best practices, and collaborative engagement.
The annual signatory fee is pro-rated on signing, and then payable each April. Asset owner fees are calculated based on their AUM.
Asset owners headquartered in a country classified by the IMF as an emerging market or developing economy can email [email protected] to apply for a fee discount. View IMF list of eligible countries.
Please see our current fee bands for asset owners below:
| AUM (US$ bln) | ≥ 100 | 50 – 99.99 | 10 - 49.99 | 5 - 9.99 | 1 - 4.99 | 0.1 - 0.99 | 0 - 0.099 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 fee (GBP) | £20,000 | £15,000 | £10,054 | £7,624 | £3,514 | £1,000 | £547 |
Reporting
PRI reporting is the largest global reporting project on responsible investment. It was developed with investors, for investors. Asset owner signatories are required to report on their responsible investment activities annually.
The first reporting period after signing up will be voluntary. We encourage our new signatories to participate in this voluntary reporting period to help set their baseline and become familiar with the process.
If you would like to report for the current year, you will need to be an approved signatory before the reporting window opens, so please apply with plenty of time to process your application. If your application is not approved and paid before the reporting window is open, you will not be able to report until the following year.
Read more:
Minimum Requirements
We believe that an economically efficient, sustainable global financial system is a necessity for long-term value creation. Such a system will reward long-term, responsible investment and benefit the environment and society as a whole.
Signing the Principles and becoming a signatory of the PRI demonstrates your commitment to responsible investment practice.
Since the PRI’s launch in 2006, responsible investment has entered the mainstream. In 2018 the PRI implemented minimum requirements for membership, which ensure that our members demonstrate their commitment to responsible investing by “walking the talk”.
Our minimum requirements are an essential part of ensuring a sustainable financial system. We work closely with our signatories to ensure that they are achievable and to support their implementation. The minimum requirements are applicable from your first mandatory reporting cycle as a signatory.
Reporting Terms and Conditions
Please ensure you have reviewed our reporting Terms and Conditions. As we are collecting and processing your data, we have set out our commitments to ensuring your data is processed with all due care and attention, our commitments to transparency, and how we will use your data.
The reporting framework is designed to provide a global and transparent approach to responsible investment practices. As this is a unique data set, it is invaluable for furthering responsible investment practices through academic research and analysis, which may be undertaken on our behalf, under strict confidentiality agreements. Your private data will never be shared publicly.
Apply now
To start a new application or continue an existing one:
Applications will only be accepted via the online form.
However, to see the questions in advance of completing the application, view this preview of the form.
Sign-up guidelines
- View PRI signatory sign-up guidelines
- View PRI signatory sign-up guidelines (Chinese)
- View PRI signatory sign-up guidelines (Japanese)
‘Internally managed assets’ are those for which investment decisions at a security, asset, or financial instrument level are made in-house by the signatory. This should include consolidated and wholly owned subsidiaries of the signatory. Signatories that perform internal research that supports investment decisions and/or provides lists of eligible (or ineligible) securities, assets, or financial instruments to sub-advisor(s) should list their assets as internally managed.
‘Externally managed assets’ are those for which investment decisions at a security, asset, or financial instrument level are made on an organisation’s behalf by an external investment manager or similar third party. Fund of funds managers should report their assets as externally managed where the above applies.
Investment managers that primarily perform investment research internally and provide lists of eligible securities (or ineligible securities) to sub-advisor(s) should list their assets as internally managed. Funds of funds (including funds of hedge funds) and managers of managers whose investment decisions (e.g. buy/sell/hold) for the underlying assets are made by third parties should list their assets as externally managed.
Fixed income and private debt
For the purposes of the PRI Reporting Framework, private debt should be reported under fixed income. Refer to Spotlight on responsible investment in private debt for a list of private debt strategies.
Treatment of REITs
If the fund manager invests in a range of listed assets and the fund holds shares in REITs, then the fund manager should report under the relevant LE strategy (active fundamental, active quantitative or passive).
If the fund manager manages a REIT (or several REITs) as a direct property investment, deciding on which properties within the REIT to buy and sell and possibly managing them, then that fund manager should report under the Real Estate module.
Private equity, real estate and infrastructure
Infrastructure and real estate are treated as separate reporting categories due to the different characteristics of the investments in these sectors. When possible, non-listed equity investments in infrastructure and real estate should be reported in those categories rather than as private equity.
Secondary interests in limited partnership investment funds should be listed as externally managed.
Hedge funds
Investments in private or public companies through hedge fund structures should be reported as hedge funds only to avoid being double counted (for example, listed equity held in hedge fund structures should not also be reported under listed equity).
Cash and money market instruments
Cash, cash equivalents and/or overlays and money market assets should be reported as ‘Other’. If these assets are off-balance sheet, they should be reported as ‘Off-balance sheet’.
Other
This category includes assets that do not fit any of the above categories. Trade finance should be reported under ‘Other’.
Signatories should report their derivative securities related to each asset class as ‘Other’ and not in the asset class. Examples of derivatives include futures (e.g. commodity future, currency futures, dividend futures), forwards, swaps (e.g. interest-rate, currency, index-return, Constant Maturity swaps, Total return Swap), exotic derivatives (e.g. inflation derivatives, weather derivatives, credit-linked note, credit derivatives, equity-linked note), interest-rate derivatives (e.g. caps, floors, swaptions, IRS), equity derivatives (e.g. options, warrants, convertible bonds, single-stock futures).
Off-balance sheet
Any off-balance sheet should be indicated here, e.g. cash, cash equivalents and/or overlays and money market assets.
Committed funds
Ideally, signatories’ asset class mix should include all uncalled commitments and committed funds (e.g. in private equity or infrastructure). However, if a signatory classifies these differently (e.g. if they are only able to provide a breakdown for invested capital), then it should be reported in that way. Signatories with AUM that consists entirely of uncalled commitments (i.e. signatories that are still raising funds) should indicate this in [OO 3].
