Responsible investing
Responsible investing is at the heart of our purpose – Investing for the long term. Our futures depend on it.
It lets us use our influence to:
- encourage companies to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into their culture and everyday decisions
- work with markets and regulators to create an environment where good management of ESG factors is valued and supported
It also gives us the chance to raise market standards and promote best practice.
Our three areas of focus as an asset manager
Holding boards to account
To be successful, companies need to be led by people who are well-equipped to create resilient long-term growth. By voting and engaging directly with companies, we encourage management to control risks while looking to benefit from emerging opportunities. We aim to safeguard and enhance our clients’ assets by engaging with companies and holding their management to account for their decisions. Voting is an important tool in this process – it’s one we use extensively.
Creating sustainable value
We believe it’s in everyone’s interest for companies to build sustainable business models that also benefit society. We work to encourage companies to be well-positioned for sustainable growth and look to prevent market behaviour that destroys long-term value. Our investment process includes an assessment of how well companies incorporate relevant ESG factors into their everyday thinking. We engage directly and collaboratively with them to highlight key challenges and opportunities, and support strategies that seek to deliver long-term success.
Promoting market resilience
We believe it’s essential that markets (and, by extension, the companies within them) generate sustainable value. To support that, companies should become more resilient and responsive to change, ultimately benefiting the whole market. We use our influence and scale to drive recognition and appropriate management of issues affecting the value of our clients’ investments. Significant environmental challenges, like climate change and biodiversity loss, remain a dominant theme of engagement as we continue to hold companies to account on their progress to net zero.
Key risks
The value of an investment and any income taken from it is not guaranteed. It can go down as well as up, so you may not get back the amount you originally invested. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.