Responsible investing has been a hot topic this autumn, despite the fact that it isn’t really anything new. In fact, the UN’s responsible investing guidelines turn ten years old this year. What are the issues that investors focus on today?
19.10.2016
Responsible Investors and Active Owners
Jarno Tanhuanpää
Investors as Drivers of Change
When visiting Finland in August, Roel Nieuwenkamp of the OECD described how the focus investors have put on responsibility has completely changed the game. For example, a Dutch pension fund sold its holdings in pharmaceuticals company Mylan after it was alleged that the company’s drugs were being used to carry out executions in the US.
Institutional investors have taken the lead in the field of responsible investing for a while now, and require that ESG (environmental, social and governance) principles be complied with in their investment targets.
Private equity investors are also increasingly viewing potential investments through the lens of responsibility. Concrete evidence of this is that the Finnish Venture Capital Association is currently drafting responsible investment recommendations for its members. The recommendations point investors towards active ownership.
The key is not just to have responsibility principles in existence, but to actively weave them into the daily operations of target companies. High standards for responsibility and their effective implementation can also serve as strategic advantages when raising venture capital.
Incorporating ESG Principles into Legal Documentation
We currently seem to be seeing a kind of ESG 2.0 phenomenon. Investors and parties managing investments have a more solid will to commit to ESG principles. The clearest evidence of this is the incorporation of responsibility issues into standard legal due diligence reviews of investment targets. We have also been discussing how to incorporate ESG principles into investment documentation in a way that would be legally binding on the parties.
Reaping the Benefits of Business Opportunities
Investors have a twofold interest in responsibility issues. An ESG analysis will provide investors with an assessment of a target company’s current state. The analysis can also be used to guide an active ownership policy and steer the target company away from a path that could lead to identified cost risks being realised. On the other hand, an investor’s focus on responsibility issues can open up entirely new business opportunities based on, for example, sustainable development.
Responsibility is here to stay, and companies would be wise to make the most of the business opportunities brought by sustainable development, for example, in the circular economy.
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Latest references
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We are acting as legal adviser to Taaleri Plc on its acquisition of a 51 per cent ownership stake in Nordic Science Investments Oy (NSI), marking Taaleri’s expansion into deeptech-driven venture capital. Through the transaction, Taaleri broadens its private equity offering into early-stage venture capital funds as well as the commercialisation and scaling of research-driven innovations. NSI is a Finnish venture capital fund manager operating across the Nordic and Baltic regions, focusing on early-stage investments in research- and science-based technologies. Its portfolio companies develop, among other things, health technologies, life sciences, advanced materials and AI-driven solutions. In addition to providing growth capital, NSI supports spin-out companies with strategic guidance, access to networks and assistance in building teams during the early phases of business development. NSI’s first fund, the EUR 45 million NSI Nordic Science I Ky, was established in 2024 and has to date invested in 22 early-stage companies in Finland, Sweden and the Baltic countries. Taaleri is a specialist in investments, private asset management and non-life insurance, with a strong position in renewable energy, bioindustry and housing investments as well as credit risk insurance. Taaleri has EUR 2.7 billion of assets under management in its private equity funds, co-investments and single-asset vehicles, employs approximately 130 people and is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. The founders of NSI will continue in their operational roles following the transaction. The completion of the transaction is subject to approval by the FIN-FSA.
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We delivered two information design workshops for the legal department of the Finnish Centre for Pensions, with participants from both legal and other professional backgrounds. In the sessions, we applied the principles of legal design thinking to the Finnish Centre for Pensions’ field of operation and background materials, also utilising AI as a design tool. The participants found the tailored training highly useful and commended the trainers for their in-depth familiarisation with the Centre’s opinion drafting process and operating environment. As a result of the workshops, our experts proposed a new structural and linguistic model for the legal department of the Finnish Centre for Pensions for drafting opinions and guidelines. The proposal was well received as clear and applicable to the participants’ everyday work. In addition, we presented tailored AI use cases to support experts, allowing for a more efficient AI-assisted way of working. Our experts who delivered the workshops combined their legal expertise with their leading experience in legal design. The participants appreciated this versatile expertise, which enabled a knowledgeable, creative and applied approach to legal writing. ‘C&S created a well-structured training tailored to our needs, providing clear direction for our organisation and concrete takeaways for our experts in their day-to-day work,’ says Mari Kuunvalo, Head Of the Legal Department at the Finnish Centre for Pensions.
Case published 10.4.2026
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Aurevia and Labquality – Strategic reorganisation
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