Fund Size: £181.14m

Total screened & themed / SRI assets: £2738.66

Total assets under management: £15000.00

As at: 31/03/24

Contact: natalie.yapp@rathbones.com

Overview

Filters

Fund information

Policy

We don’t invest directly in any company that derives more than 10% of its sales from gambling, high interest-rate lending, pornography or from the manufacture of tobacco or tobacco products, alcohol, thermal coal/tar sands or armaments.

Process

Through an holistic appraisal of ESG opportunities and risk, we take a well-informed approach to responsible investment. To that end, we have developed a core set of guiding principles that apply to our responsible investment activities:

• ESG integration: We consider ESG factors when evaluating investments to help us identify ESG opportunities and risks.
• Voting with purpose: We actively vote over 95% of the value of our clients’ holdings. We will vote against management to help drive positive change when necessary.
• Engagement with consequences: We prioritise engagement where we believe we can make a real difference to the world’s systemic environmental and social challenges. We will reduce our holdings in companies that present an ongoing ESG risk when other avenues such as engagement have failed to produce the change we seek.
• Transparency: We report regularly on the progress of our responsible investment activities.

Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies

Greenbank Investments’ ESI research team

Greenbank investments’ specialist ethical, sustainable and impact (ESI) team conduct ethical research and apply the fund’s ethical screening criteria. The team at Greenbank have been at the forefront of developments in the ethical investment industry since 1992, launching one of the first bespoke ethical portfolio services in 1997. The fund’s ethical and sustainability framework and methodology have been developed with Greenbank, utilising their many years’ experience of managing private client portfolios as well as providing screening services for the other Rathbones’ sustainable funds (including Rathbone Greenbank Multi-Asset Portfolio funds, the Rathbone Greenbank Global Sustainability Fund and the Rathbone Greenbank Global Sustainable Bond Fund).

Greenbank Investments work with over 1,200 clients across the UK and manage over £2.3bn in assets (as at 31 March 2024).

Kate Elliot is Head of Greenbank’s ESI research team, which comprises:

• Perry Rudd - Ethical, Sustainable and Impact Research Adviser
• Sophie Lawrence - Stewardship and Engagement Lead
• Emma Williams - Senior Ethical, Sustainable and Impact Researcher
• Kai Johns - Senior Ethical, Sustainable and Impact Researcher
• Charlie Young - Ethical, Sustainable and Impact Researcher
• Lauren O’Leary - Ethical, Sustainable and Impact Researcher
• Caitlin Westlake - Assistant Ethical, Sustainable and Impact Researcher

For biographies for the team please visit the Our People page on the Rathbones website.

Rathbones Stewardship team

The Rathbones Group Stewardship team is led by Matt Crossman and comprises:

• Archie Pearson: ESG & Stewardship Analyst, Voting Lead
• Kazuki Shaw: ESG & Stewardship Analyst
• Philippa Bliss – ESG & Stewardship Analyst
• Tilia Astell: Junior ESG & Stewardship Analyst

In addition to this, Jenny Foster is an Engagement Analyst for Rathbones Asset Management, working with all of the fund managers to deliver Rathbone Asset Management's engagement strategy and lead direct engagements with companies.
 

ESG affiliations and memberships

Rathbones Group is a member of PIMFA and UK Finance. They are also members of or signatories to:

• UK Stewardship Code
• PRI
• CDP
• IIGCC
• Climate Action 100+
• Living Wage employer
• The Workplace Wellbeing Charter
• The FTSE Women Leaders Review
• Signatories to UN Global Compact
• Signatories to Women in Finance Charter
• Listed on FTSE4Good
• Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative
• Business Ambition 1.5ºC
• Inclusive Companies
• UKSIF

Please see the Rathbones website for further details at: About Us | Partnership and memberships

Greenbank (Rathbones’ specialist sustainable investment division) partners with many different members of the responsible investment community. These are shown below:

•  Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR)
• Workforce Disclosure Initiative (WDi)
• The Food Foundation
• Access to Medicine Index
• Access to Nutrition Initiative
• Finance for Biodiversity
• Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW)
• Long-term Investors in People’s Health – ShareAction
• FAIRR
• Financing a Just Transition Alliance
• New Plastics Economy Global Commitment
• Paris Aligned Investment Initiative
• Investor Alliance on Human Rights
• Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty

Please see the Greenbank Investments website for further details at: Partnerships | Greenbank

Literature

• Fund overview & literature (including factsheet)
• Responsible Investment at Rathbones

Note re Filters:

PRI A+ rated

In 2022, PRI updated their scoring mechanism. This in turn has altered how Rathbones Group Plc reports its scores.

Rathbone Group Scores:

• Investment and stewardship policy: our score was 72% in 2020. For this category, now expanded to cover stewardship activities too, and renamed policy, governance and strategy, we earned a score of 77%.
• Direct – listed equity active fundamental: up from 37% in 2020 to 42% now.
• Fixed income – SSA and corporate: up from 28% and 29% in 2020 to 67% in both cases. 'SSA' stands for sovereign, supranational and agency debt (mainly government bonds).
• Confidence-building measures: 80%. This is a new category, which assesses how we review and verify the data reported to the PRI. Issues considered include our overall approach to review and verification, whether a third party has checked the data, whether our internal audit team has done the same, and the seniority of the Rathbones executive who reviewed the report before submission.

The Rathbones Group scores published in 2023 can be found on page 41 of our responsible investment report for our 2023 activity.

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Disclaimer

Important Information

The information contained in this document is for use by investment advisers and is not intended for circulation to private clients or the general public.

Past performance should not be seen as an indication of future performance. The value of investments and the income from them may go down as well as up and you may not get back your original investment.

Rathbones Asset Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Rathbones Asset Management is a member of the Investment Association.

Rathbones Asset Management Limited: Registered address 8 Finsbury Circus, London, EC2M 7AZ.

Registered No. 02376568 - A Member of the Rathbone Group.

Last amended: 31/07/24 04:21