In early 2005 the United Nations Secretary-General invited a group of the world’s largest institutional investors to join a process to develop the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). Individuals representing 20 institutional investors from 12 countries agreed to participate in the Investor Group. The Group accepted ownership of the Principles, and had the freedom to develop them as they saw fit.
The Group was supported by a 70-person multi-stakeholder group of experts from the investment industry, intergovernmental and governmental organizations, civil society and academia. The process, conducted between April 2005 and January 2006 involved a total of five days of face-to-face deliberations by the investors and four days by the experts, with hundreds of hours of follow-up activity. The Principles for Responsible Investment emerged as a result of these meetings.
The process was coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and the UN Global Compact. The PRI reflects the core values of the group of large investors whose investment horizon is generally long, and whose portfolios are often highly diversified. However, the Principles are open to all institutional investors, investment managers and professional service partners to support.
Following the launch of the Principles, the PRI Secretariat was created to help co-ordinate the adoption of the Principles by additional investors, provide comprehensive resources to assist investors in implementing the Principles, and to facilitate collaboration among signatories.