1.07.2008 - 08:22am ET

(CSRwire) BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Jan. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Highland Good Steward Management, LLC, fund manager of a suite of socially responsible investment products, published its second annual sustainability report on American International Group Inc. (AIG) today.

The overall findings from the report indicate that AIG is making significant progress on a wide-range of governance and sustainability issues. In the areas of board oversight and ethics, AIG's performance exceeded expectations, while on executive compensation and general environmental issues it ranked satisfactory.

AIG Investments, the asset management arm of AIG, serves as the investment adviser to certain socially responsible products developed by Highland.

"We continue to be impressed with AIG's overall progress," said William T. Mills, Managing Member of Highland Good Steward Management, LLC. "While there is always room for further progress, AIG was the first major U.S. insurer to adopt a climate change policy and earlier this year became the first insurer to join the U.S. Climate Action Partnership to push for climate legislation in the United States." Mills added, "We also were pleased to hear AIG is conducting a greenhouse gas inventory. AIG's corporate actions reflect our socially responsible values, which is also important to our investors."

Steven Guterman, Senior Managing Director and Head of Business Development at AIG Investments said AIG and AIG Investments have made great strides in developing a corporate strategy that addresses sustainability issues.

"In addition to incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in our daily investment analyses across all asset classes, we have a company-wide policy and programs that support development of strategic products, services and policies designed to help mitigate causes of climate change and improve environmental stewardship for the customers and markets that we serve," said Guterman.

The 26-page report contains a scorecard with 137 indicators and serves to track AIG's progress since 2005 when the former CEO resigned and the company issued financial restatements. While these events were a catalyst for the first report, the continuing annual assessments and breadth of indicators evaluated demonstrate Highland Good Steward Management and AIG's commitment to sustainability.

Highland commissioned RiskMetrics Group to produce the report to ensure AIG's policies and actions reflect Highland's and its investors' values and goals.

"The custom annual report series for Highland is just one example of the breadth and depth of RiskMetrics' ESG expertise and capabilities," said Peter DeSimone the author of the report and a member of RiskMetrics' sustainability research team. "Investors can leverage RiskMetrics' ESG data and analysis to develop sustainability indexes, to screen portfolios or to engage with corporations more effectively."

Highland Good Steward Management

Highland Good Steward Management is an affiliate of Highland Associates, Inc. and is located in Birmingham, Alabama. HGSM's goal is to provide innovative investment products to socially responsible investors around the globe by combining excellent investment advisors with HGSM's socially responsible investment policies.

About RiskMetrics Group

RiskMetrics Group is a leading provider of risk management and corporate governance products and services to financial market participants. By bringing transparency, expertise and access to the financial markets, RiskMetrics Group helps investors better understand and manage the risks inherent in their financial portfolios. Made up of three business units-Risk Management, ISS Governance Services, and Financial Research and Analysis-our solutions address a broad spectrum of risk across our clients' financial assets. Headquartered in New York with 19 global offices, RiskMetrics Group serves some of the most prestigious institutions and corporations worldwide. For more information, please visit: www.riskmetrics.com.

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