Sustainability, ESG and stewardship
A natural outcome of our culture, philosophy and heritage.
Independent, socially responsible investing
We encourage our fund managers to follow their convictions and actively look for new investment opportunities. We believe this independence gives our fund managers the best chance of delivering investment excellence as responsible caretakers of client assets.
Stewardship responsibility
The approach to stewardship differs by strategy and asset class. Stewardship, governance and sustainability is never a case of ‘one size fits all’ and is based on materiality, centred on improving client outcomes. So, while our fund managers have the freedom they need to deliver for clients, they also hold themselves responsible for stewardship. They do this by carefully articulating and expressing their principles and standards. They put their name to these documents, which is why we call them ‘Signatures’.
“Our approach to
stewardship has
emerged as an
authentic and innate
aspect of genuinely
active fund
management.”
Stephen Pearson
Chief Investment Officer
Active engagement
Our approach to engagement is differentiated among our peers. We do not rely on a distant or disconnected department. Instead, the fund manager who made the decision to hold the asset leads engagement activity directly. This results in engagement that is constant, ongoing and fully integrated with the investment process.
Deep meaningful relationships
Most of our strategies result in concentrated, high-conviction portfolios with low turnover, as we believe this is the best way to add long-term value to client assets. This creates long-term sustained relationships with the management and boards of the companies in which we invest. This enables more meaningful and relevant engagement on issues that can affect the returns our clients experience.
Client focused outcomes
Our approach to stewardship, including ESG considerations, begins and ends with investing our clients’ assets responsibly. We rigorously analyse a broad set of third-party ESG data to highlight risks and uncover opportunities for client portfolios.
Leveraging ESG data on clients’ behalf
We do not use our extensive access to external ESG risk scores or checklists as screens. Instead, they are tools integrated into investment processes to flag material issues and opportunities to inform buy, sell and hold decisions based on client outcomes.