Fund Filters
Sustainability
Environmental policy
Sustainability policy
Limits exposure to carbon intensive industries
Resource efficiency policy or theme
Sustainability theme or focus
Waste management policy or theme
Favours cleaner, greener companies
Sustainability focus
Report against sustainability objectives
Encourage more sustainable practices through stewardship
Nature & Biodiversity
Deforestation / palm oil policy
Plastics policy / reviewing plastics
Unsustainable / illegal deforestation exclusion policy
Climate Change & Energy
Nuclear exclusion policy
Coal, oil & / or gas majors excluded
Climate change / greenhouse gas emissions policy
Invests in clean energy / renewables
Fracking and tar sands excluded
Fossil fuel reserves exclusion
Energy efficiency theme
Require net zero action plan from all/most companies
Encourage transition to low carbon through stewardship activity
Human Rights
Human rights policy
Child labour exclusion
Responsible supply chain policy or theme
Social / Employment
Social policy
Health & wellbeing policies or theme
Labour standards policy
Favours companies with strong social policies
Meeting Peoples' Basic Needs
Water / sanitation policy or theme
Demographic / ageing population theme
Ethical Values Led Exclusions
Ethical policies
Animal welfare policy
Animal testing exclusion policy
Tobacco and related product manufacturers excluded
Armaments manufacturers avoided
Pornography avoidance policy
Animal testing - excluded except if for medical purposes
Civilian firearms production exclusion
Banking & Financials
Predatory lending exclusion
Governance & Management
Governance policy
Anti-bribery and corruption policy
Avoids companies with poor governance
Digital / cyber security policy
Encourage board diversity e.g. gender
Encourage TCFD alignment for banks & insurance companies
UN sanctions exclusion
Encourage higher ESG standards through stewardship activity
Fund Governance
ESG integration strategy
ESG factors included in Assessment of Value (AoV) report
External (fund) committee has veto powers
Asset Size & Metrics
Over 50% small / mid cap companies
How The Fund Works
Balances company 'pros and cons' / best in sector
Negative selection bias
Combines norms based exclusions with other SRI criteria
Combines ESG strategy with other SRI criteria
ESG weighted / tilt
Focus on ESG risk mitigation
SRI / ESG / Ethical policies explained on website
Labels & Accreditations
SFDR Article 8 fund / product (EU)
Intended Clients & Product Options
Intended for investors interested in sustainability
Bespoke SRI / ESG portfolios available (DFMs)
Fund management company information
About The Business
ESG / SRI engagement (AFM company wide)
Responsible ownership / stewardship policy or strategy (AFM company wide)
Responsible ownership policy for non SRI funds (AFM company wide)
Responsible ownership / ESG a key differentiator (AFM company wide)
Diversity, equality & inclusion engagement policy (AFM company wide)
Boutique / specialist fund management company
Integrates ESG factors into all / most fund research
In-house diversity improvement programme (AFM company wide)
Resources
In-house responsible ownership / voting expertise
Employ specialist ESG / SRI / sustainability researchers
Use specialist ESG / SRI / sustainability research companies
ESG specialists on all investment desks (AFM company wide)
Collaborations & Affiliations
PRI signatory
Climate Action 100+ or IIGCC member
Fund EcoMarket partner
GFANZ member (AFM company wide)
Accreditations
UK Stewardship Code signatory (AFM company wide)
PRI A+ rated (AFM company wide)
Engagement Approach
Regularly lead collaborative ESG initiatives (AFM company wide)
Encourage responsible corporate taxation (AFM company wide)
Company Wide Exclusions
Controversial weapons avoidance policy (AFM company wide)
Tobacco avoidance policy (AFM company wide)
Fossil fuel exclusion policy (AFM company wide)
Do not invest in companies with fossil fuel reserves
Climate & Net Zero Transition
Encourage carbon / greenhouse gas reduction (AFM company wide)
Net Zero commitment (AFM company wide)
Working towards a ‘Net Zero’ commitment (AFM company wide)
Net Zero - have set a Net Zero target date (AFM company wide)
Transparency
Publish full voting record (AFM company wide)
Publish responsible ownership / stewardship report (AFM company wide)
Full SRI policy information available on request
Net Zero transition plan publicly available (AFM company wide)
Sustainability transition plan publicly available (AFM company wide)
Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies
Internal Resources
All of our analysts and portfolio managers consider ESG factors when discussing stock ideas and building an investment case. Thus, we consider the entire team an ESG resource.
The stewardship specialists are directly responsible for engagement efforts, and work with the analysts to help them develop their ESG analysis and ratings for stocks.
Whilst the analysts own their ratings, this must be approved by the stewardship team to ensure joint accountability. It is important to note that our stewardship specialists are part of the global equity team, and are involved in team discussions and decisions.
We utilise our own framework and ratings systems to represent our proprietary ESG analysis. This analysis is bottom-up and driven by extensive primary research carried out by our analysts, supplemented with ESG data from MSCI, ISS and other sources.
Affiliations and Memberships
In addition to the UN PRI, we are signatories to the 2020 UK Stewardship Code – and passed the Financial Reporting Council’s assessment for this in September 2021s. Other memberships / initiatives including those listed below, are often the forum in which we work to improve ESG standards and taxonomy:
ENVIRONMENTAL
- IIGCC Paris-aligned accounting and audit working group (Chair)
- IIGCC Net Zero Banking initiative (co-Chair)
- Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAM)
- Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Reporting
- Climate Action 100+
- “Say on Climate” Initiative
- Carbon Accounting Project (PRI)
- Ellen MacArthur Foundation Plastics Initiative
- Plastic Solutions Investor Alliance (PSIA)
- Finance for Biodiversity Initiative (F4B)
SOCIAL
- 30% Club
- Find It, Fix It, Prevent It initiative (FFP) – Modern Slavery
- Workforce Disclosure Initiative (WDI)
- International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry
- Investor Statement of Solidarity to Address Systemic Racism and Call to Action
- World Benchmarking Alliance Digital Inclusion Collective Impact Coalition
GOVERNANCE
- International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN)
- UK Corporate Reporting and Auditing Group (CRAG)
- Advisory Group for International Audit & Assurance Standards Board
We also support The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF).
Many of these commitments provide us with a network of peers and supporters for key ESG related issues. It is important for us to remain engaged with group advocacy work, collaborative endeavours, such as engagements, but also to keep aware of best practice.
Often, we find these networks to be useful sources of data and information either on a broad ESG related issue or on company specific metrics that may not be found in other sources.
While the majority of our company engagements are pursued on our own, as outlined in later responses, we will collaborate with other investors where we are seeking to escalate due to resistance from the board or executives. Often having a larger shareholding united on a matter of concern can be more impactful. Wherever we explore collaboration, we ensure the steps we take are consistent with local laws and regulations. In certain cases, these collaborations link into broader initiatives that we support, such as ICCR Covid-19 engagement; the Workforce Disclosure Initiative; the Ellen MacArthur global commitment on recycling; or Climate Action 100+.