iShares UK Equity ESG Screened and Optimised Index Fund (UK)

SRI Style:

Limited Exclusions

SDR Labelling:

Unlabelled with sustainable characteristics

Product:

OEIC

Fund Region:

UK

Fund Asset Type:

Passive Equity

Launch Date:

01/02/2022

Last Amended:

Sep 2025

Dialshifter ():

Fund/Portfolio Size:

£2796.80m

(as at: 31/05/2025)

Total Assets Under Management:

£8974571.00m

(as at: 31/03/2025)

ISIN:

GB00BN08ZW10, GB00BN08ZV03, GB00BN08ZX27, GB00BN08ZY34

Objectives:

The Fund aims to provide a return (gross of charges) on your investment (generated through an increase in the value of the assets held by the Fund) by tracking closely the performance of the Morningstar UK ESG Enhanced Index (the “Benchmark Index”). The Fund invests in equity securities (e.g. shares) of companies that make up the Benchmark Index. The Benchmark Index aims to reflect the performance of a sub-set of equity securities within the Morningstar UK Index (the “Parent Index”) which remain after the index provider has excluded securities using pre-defined ESG screens and weighted securities using an optimisation.

Sustainable, Responsible
&/or ESG Overview:

This fund provides exposure to UK equities while incorporating ESG considerations. It tracks the Morningstar UK ESG Enhanced Index, which excludes companies with severe ESG controversies and applies an optimisation process to improve ESG outcomes. The fund aims to reduce carbon intensity and ESG risk while preserving the financial characteristics of the UK equity market. It is designed for investors who want to align their UK equity investments with responsible investment principles.

Primary fund last amended:

Sep 2025

Information directly from fund manager.

Fund Filters

Sustainability - General
Sustainability policy

Has policies that consider (environmental and social) sustainability issues. Strategies vary but are likely to consider environmental issues like climate change, carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, resource management, environmental impacts; and social issues like equal opportunities, human rights, labour standards, diversity and adherence to internationally recognised codes. See individual entry information.

UN Global Compact linked exclusion policy

Use the UN Global Compact to inform or help direct where they can or cannot invest. Will typically not invest in companies with significant breaches (low standards) - strategies vary. (The UNGC covers a wide range of issues - search 'UNGC'). See https://unglobalcompact.org/

Report against sustainability objectives

Publicly report performance against named sustainability objectives

Climate Change & Energy
Climate change / greenhouse gas emissions policy

Has policies (documented strategies that explain their position) on climate change related issues such as greenhouse gas/carbon emissions, net zero, transitioning to lower carbon. Strategies vary.

Arctic drilling exclusion

Avoid companies that are involved in extracting oil from the Arctic regions.

Fossil fuel reserves exclusion

Avoid investing in companies / assets with coal, oil and gas reserves. See individual entry information for further details.

Ethical Values Led Exclusions
Tobacco and related product manufacturers excluded

Companies are excluded if they are involved in any aspect of the production chain for tobacco products, including cigarettes, vaping, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco and cigars.

Tobacco and related products - avoid where revenue > 5%

Companies are excluded if they make more than 5% of their revenue from the manufacture, sale or distribution of tobacco products including cigarettes, vaping, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco and cigars.

Controversial weapons exclusion

Excludes companies which make controversial weapons such as landmines, cluster munitions and chemical weapons.

Civilian firearms production exclusion

Has a written civilian firearms exclusion policy - meaning that they will not invest in companies that make (or perhaps also sell) handguns made for non-military users.

Alcohol production excluded

Avoids companies that produce alcohol. Strategies vary; some may allow a small proportion of revenue to come from this area.

Gambling avoidance policy

Avoids companies with significant involvement in the gambling industry. Some may allow a small proportion of revenues to come from this area.

Pornography avoidance policy

Find funds that avoid companies that derive significant income from pornography and related areas. Strategies vary.

Banking & Financials
Invests in banks

Can include banks as part of their holdings / portfolio.

Invests in insurers

May invest in insurance companies.

Asset Size
Over 50% large cap companies

Invests more than half of their money into what are commonly regarded as 'large companies'. This will typically mean that the market capitalisation (or value) of the companies they hold is in excess of £5 to £10 billion.

How The Fund/Portfolio Works
ESG weighted / tilt

Invest more heavily in assets which have higher ESG ratings/standards or scores and less heavily in companies with lower ESG ratings. Where this is central to the strategy you should expect assets in most sectors. Strategies vary.

Passive / index driven strategy

Only uses an investment index to direct where they can invest. Fund strategies and indices vary.

Use stock / securities lending

Uses specialist strategies to aid performance which involve ‘lending’ assets to others at specific points in time.

Unscreened Assets & Cash
Assets typically aligned to sustainability objectives 70 - 79%

Holds between 70-79% of assets which align to the sustainability objectives; which are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets.

Fund Management Company Information

About The Business
Responsible ownership / stewardship policy or strategy (AFM company wide)

Finds fund management companies that have a published company wide stewardship, engagement and / or responsible ownership policy or strategy that covers all investments. Stewardship typically involves encouraging higher ESG standards through voting and dialogue.

ESG / SRI engagement (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that actively encourage higher 'environmental, social and governance' and/or 'sustainable and responsible investment' practices across investee companies - typically where the aim is to encourage positive change that is aligned with the best interests of investors. Strategies vary. See additional information and options.

Vote all* shares at AGMs / EGMs (AFM company wide)

Find fund managers that vote all* the shares they own at Annual General Meetings and Extraordinary General Meetings. A commitment to voting shares is a key indicator of 'responsible share ownership' demonstrating their support for or disagreement with management policy. (*situations can legitimately, occasionally occur where voting proves impossible, but in principle all shares should be voted.)

Sustainable property strategy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that take sustainability criteria into account when selecting and/or managing all of their property / real estate investments.

Senior management KPIs include environmental goals (AFM company wide)

The leadership team of this asset manager have performance targets linked to environmental goals.

Invests in newly listed companies (AFM company wide)

This asset management company invests in companies which have recently listed on a stock exchange (which is important as it can help grow new businesses).

Invests in new sustainability linked bond issuances (AFM company wide)

Asset management company has investments in bonds designed to meet sustainability requirements - however these assets may not be 'ringfenced' for this purpose. See fund manager website for details.

Offer unstructured intermediary sustainable investment training

Fund management entity offers unstructured intermediary training on sustainable investment (ie for financial advisers and wealth managers)

Collaborations & Affiliations
PRI signatory

Find fund management companies that have signed up to the UN backed 'Principles of Responsible Investment'.

TNFD forum member (AFM company wide)

A member of the Taskforce for Nature Related Financial Disclosures group which aims to aid risk management and shift money towards nature-positive outcomes.

Resources
In-house responsible ownership / voting expertise

Find fund management companies that employ people to steer and support fund managers in voting shares at company AGM's and EGMs in ways that are consistent with encouraging higher ESG/sustainability standards.

Employ specialist ESG / SRI / sustainability researchers

Find a fund management company that directly employs specialist ESG/SRI/sustainability researchers or analysts. This allows asset managers to discuss environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities directly with companies.

Accreditations
UK Stewardship Code signatory (AFM company wide)

Find fund managers that are signatories to the FRC UK Stewardship Code, which sets out a framework for constructive investor / investee relations where fund managers are encouraged to behave like responsible, typically longer term 'company owners'.

Engagement Approach
Engaging on climate change issues

Fund manager has stewardship /responsible ownership strategy that is focused on addressing climate change with investee assets.

Engaging with fossil fuel companies on climate change

Asset manager has a stewardship /responsible ownership strategy that involves working with fossil fuel companies on climate change related issues. See fund manager website for details.

Engaging to reduce plastics pollution / waste

Asset manager has stewardship /responsible ownership strategy with involves encouraging investee asset to reduce plastic waste and pollution.

Engaging on biodiversity / nature issues

The asset manager has a responsible ownership / stewardship strategy that focuses on biodiversity and nature issues relating to the assets they invest the aim of which will be to reduce harm and or deliver improvement. Strategies vary. https://tnfd.global

Engaging on human rights issues

Asset manager has responsible ownership / stewardship strategy in place which aims to address human rights issues in investee companies (and potentially their suppliers) with the aim of raising standards

Engaging on labour / employment issues

Asset manager has responsible ownership / stewardship strategy in place that aims to improve labour standards for the benefit of employees in investee companies (and potentially their suppliers)

Engaging on diversity, equality and / or inclusion issues

Asset management company has a stewardship strategy in place which involves working to raise diversity, equality and inclusion standards across investee assets

Engaging to stop modern slavery

working with the assets they hold to help stamp out modern slavery - where direct or indirect company employees are exploited for business benefits.

Engaging on governance issues

Fund managers have stewardship strategies in place that focus on improving governance standards across investee assets

Engaging on mental health issues

Asset manager has stewardship strategy in place which involves discussing mental health issues with investee companies - with the aim of raising standards

Engaging on responsible supply chain issues

Has a stewardship / responsible ownership strategy that encourages responsible supply chain - ie the managers will discuss environmental, social and governance issues with investee companies with the aim of raising standards

Engaging on the responsible use of AI

Working to address sustainability, ESG and related concerns around artificial intelligence.

Stewardship escalation policy

Escalation policies describe how a manager will proceed if stewardship / engagement activity is not successful in the short term.

Climate & Net Zero Transition
Encourage carbon / greenhouse gas reduction (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that are working with the companies they invest in to encourage reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.

‘Forward Looking Climate Metrics’ published / ITR (AFM company wide)

Finds organisations / fund managers that have published ‘forward looking climate metrics’ e.g. 'implied temperature rise' data that are a total of the asset management company's share (% owned) of all the investee company emissions of the assets they manage, as well as their own direct and other indirect emissions.

In-house carbon / GHG reduction policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that are working to reduce their own (fund management company) carbon/greenhouse gas emissions.

Transparency
Publish responsible ownership / stewardship report (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that publish a report detailing their responsible investment ownership - also known as 'Stewardship' - activity.

Full SRI / responsible ownership policy information on company website

Find companies that publish information about their sustainable and responsible investment strategies on their company website.

Publish full voting record (AFM company wide)

Fund management companies that publish a full record of how they vote their shares at AGMs (annual general meetings) and EGMs (extraordinary general meetings). Voting strategies have an important role to play encouraging higher environmental, social and governance standards.

Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Policy:

This fund tracks the Morningstar UK ESG Enhanced Index. It excludes companies with severe ESG controversies and applies an optimisation process to improve ESG outcomes. The fund aims to reduce carbon intensity and ESG risk while preserving the financial characteristics of the UK equity market. It supports responsible investment by aligning with ESG best practices and promoting companies with stronger sustainability credentials.

Process:

This fund tracks the Morningstar UK ESG Enhanced Index. The index applies ESG screens to exclude companies with poor ESG practices and uses an optimisation process to improve ESG outcomes. ESG data is sourced from Sustainalytics and Morningstar. The fund is passively managed by BlackRock’s Index Equity team, which uses proprietary tools and third-party data to replicate the index. The fund is rebalanced quarterly and aims to reduce ESG risk and carbon intensity while maintaining UK equity exposure.

Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies:

Teams with sustainability-related areas of focus:

Sustainable & Transition Solutions team (30+ professionals) leads BlackRock's sustainability and transition strategy, drives cross-functional change, supports client and external engagement, powers product ideation, and embeds sustainable expertise across the firm in partnership with other teams.     

Sustainable Investment Research & Analytics (10+ professionals) within the BlackRock Investment Institute produces thought leadership and research on the implications of the transition on portfolio construction. They produce macro and portfolio research, including integrating climate into BlackRock's Capital Market assumptions ("CMAs").

BlackRock Investment Stewardship (60+ professionals) serves as an important link between clients and the companies they invest in, engaging with investee company leadership and proxy voting at shareholder meetings when authorized by clients to do so. Where appropriate, BIS engages with companies on climate-related issues

BlackRock Active Investment Stewardship (10+ professionals) partners with BlackRock’s active investment teams on company engagement and voting in relation to their holdings.  BAIS was established in January 2025 to more closely align the range of investment strategies on the active investment platform. 

Corporate Sustainability leads efforts to drive operational sustainability, establish sustainable business programs and policies, and engage key stakeholders on BlackRock’s contribution towards the low-carbon transition and establish BlackRock’s operational sustainability goals.

 Sustainability incorporated into broader functional responsibilities:

Investment Divisions: BlackRock investment divisions include Portfolio Management Group, Global Markets & Index Investments, and Equity Private Markets. Active portfolio teams manage exposure to financially material E, S, and/or G risks, and consider financially material E, S, and/or G information in their investment processes, as applicable and consistent with client goals. Investment teams can often have sustainability-focused units (e.g. Fixed Income ESG Investment Team), as well as investment themes dedicated to sustainable funds (e.g Decarbonization Partners, and Climate Infrastructure)

Risk & Quantitative Analysis Group (RQA) is BlackRock's risk management function. The group is responsible for BlackRock’s Investment and Enterprise risk management frameworks and serves as a key part of the second line of defense along with BlackRock Legal and Compliance. RQA evaluates investment risks, including financially material E, S and/or G risks as part of regular investment risk management processes and, where applicable, during regular reviews with portfolio managers. This helps to ensure that such risks are understood, deliberate, and consistent with client objectives. RQA also has a dedicated Sustainability Risk group that partners with risk managers and businesses to oversee sustainability risk across the platform.

Global Product Solutions leads sustainable product innovation and development, governance, and strategy across the global product platform.

Government Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP) strives to engage constructively in financial services public policy dialogue, including in relation to climate risk and sustainability disclosures, through participation in industry initiatives, engagement with regulators and standard setters around the world, and through the whitepapers, comment letters and consultation responses regularly published on BlackRock's website.

Aladdin makes available climate and ESG data and physical and transition risk analytics into investors' workflows, regulatory reporting, and decarbonization/temperature alignment analysis delivered through Aladdin. The Aladdin Sustainability Lab (90+ professionals) oversees Aladdin's sustainability-, transition-, and climate-related data, analytics and innovation, including BlackRock’s Aladdin Climate platform.

Enterprise Services includes the Health & Safety team which monitors adherence to local environmental regulations. The Corporate Real Estate, Space Planning, Critical Infrastructure and Workplace Experience teams work alongside key stakeholders such as the employee-run Green Team Network ("GTN") to plan and implement sustainability efforts in offices. The Business Continuity Management team manages disaster recovery planning, strategy, and crisis management activities. 

SDR Labelling:

Unlabelled with sustainable characteristics

Fund Holdings

Disclaimer

Risk Warnings

Capital at risk. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and are not guaranteed. Investors may not get back the amount originally invested.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of current or future results and should not be the sole factor of consideration when selecting a product or strategy.

Changes in the rates of exchange between currencies may cause the value of investments to diminish or increase. Fluctuation may be particularly marked in the case of a higher volatility fund and the value of an investment may fall suddenly and substantially. Levels and basis of taxation may change from time to time and depend on personal individual circumstances.

Important information

This material is for distribution to Professional Clients (as defined by the Financial Conduct Authority or MiFID Rules) only and should not be relied upon by any other persons.

In the UK and Non-European Economic Area (EEA) countries: this is issued by BlackRock Advisors (UK) Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered office: 12 Throgmorton Avenue, London, EC2N 2DL, Tel: +44 (0)20 7743 3000. Registered in England and Wales No. 00796793. For your protection, calls are usually recorded. Please refer to the Financial Conduct Authority website for a list of authorised activities conducted by BlackRock.

Any research in this document has been procured and may have been acted on by BlackRock for its own purpose. The results of such research are being made available only incidentally. The views expressed do not constitute investment or any other advice and are subject to change. They do not necessarily reflect the views of any company in the BlackRock Group or any part thereof and no assurances are made as to their accuracy.

This document is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer or invitation to anyone to invest in any BlackRock funds and has not been prepared in connection with any such offer.

© 2025 BlackRock, Inc. All Rights reserved. BLACKROCK, BLACKROCK SOLUTIONS and iSHARES are trademarks of BlackRock, Inc. or its affiliates. All other trademarks are those of their respective owners

Fund Name SRI Style SDR Labelling Product Region Asset Type Launch Date Last Amended

iShares UK Equity ESG Screened and Optimised Index Fund (UK)

Limited Exclusions Unlabelled with sustainable characteristics OEIC UK Passive Equity 01/02/2022 Sep 2025

Objectives

The Fund aims to provide a return (gross of charges) on your investment (generated through an increase in the value of the assets held by the Fund) by tracking closely the performance of the Morningstar UK ESG Enhanced Index (the “Benchmark Index”). The Fund invests in equity securities (e.g. shares) of companies that make up the Benchmark Index. The Benchmark Index aims to reflect the performance of a sub-set of equity securities within the Morningstar UK Index (the “Parent Index”) which remain after the index provider has excluded securities using pre-defined ESG screens and weighted securities using an optimisation.

Fund/Portfolio Size: £2796.80m

(as at: 31/05/2025)

Total Assets Under Management: £8974571.00m

(as at: 31/03/2025)

ISIN: GB00BN08ZW10, GB00BN08ZV03, GB00BN08ZX27, GB00BN08ZY34

Contact Us: https://www.ishares.com/uk/individual/en/education/contact-us

Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Overview

This fund provides exposure to UK equities while incorporating ESG considerations. It tracks the Morningstar UK ESG Enhanced Index, which excludes companies with severe ESG controversies and applies an optimisation process to improve ESG outcomes. The fund aims to reduce carbon intensity and ESG risk while preserving the financial characteristics of the UK equity market. It is designed for investors who want to align their UK equity investments with responsible investment principles.

Primary fund last amended: Sep 2025

Information received directly from Fund Manager

Please select what you would like to read:

Fund Filters

Sustainability - General
Sustainability policy

Has policies that consider (environmental and social) sustainability issues. Strategies vary but are likely to consider environmental issues like climate change, carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, resource management, environmental impacts; and social issues like equal opportunities, human rights, labour standards, diversity and adherence to internationally recognised codes. See individual entry information.

UN Global Compact linked exclusion policy

Use the UN Global Compact to inform or help direct where they can or cannot invest. Will typically not invest in companies with significant breaches (low standards) - strategies vary. (The UNGC covers a wide range of issues - search 'UNGC'). See https://unglobalcompact.org/

Report against sustainability objectives

Publicly report performance against named sustainability objectives

Climate Change & Energy
Climate change / greenhouse gas emissions policy

Has policies (documented strategies that explain their position) on climate change related issues such as greenhouse gas/carbon emissions, net zero, transitioning to lower carbon. Strategies vary.

Arctic drilling exclusion

Avoid companies that are involved in extracting oil from the Arctic regions.

Fossil fuel reserves exclusion

Avoid investing in companies / assets with coal, oil and gas reserves. See individual entry information for further details.

Ethical Values Led Exclusions
Tobacco and related product manufacturers excluded

Companies are excluded if they are involved in any aspect of the production chain for tobacco products, including cigarettes, vaping, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco and cigars.

Tobacco and related products - avoid where revenue > 5%

Companies are excluded if they make more than 5% of their revenue from the manufacture, sale or distribution of tobacco products including cigarettes, vaping, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco and cigars.

Controversial weapons exclusion

Excludes companies which make controversial weapons such as landmines, cluster munitions and chemical weapons.

Civilian firearms production exclusion

Has a written civilian firearms exclusion policy - meaning that they will not invest in companies that make (or perhaps also sell) handguns made for non-military users.

Alcohol production excluded

Avoids companies that produce alcohol. Strategies vary; some may allow a small proportion of revenue to come from this area.

Gambling avoidance policy

Avoids companies with significant involvement in the gambling industry. Some may allow a small proportion of revenues to come from this area.

Pornography avoidance policy

Find funds that avoid companies that derive significant income from pornography and related areas. Strategies vary.

Banking & Financials
Invests in banks

Can include banks as part of their holdings / portfolio.

Invests in insurers

May invest in insurance companies.

Asset Size
Over 50% large cap companies

Invests more than half of their money into what are commonly regarded as 'large companies'. This will typically mean that the market capitalisation (or value) of the companies they hold is in excess of £5 to £10 billion.

How The Fund/Portfolio Works
ESG weighted / tilt

Invest more heavily in assets which have higher ESG ratings/standards or scores and less heavily in companies with lower ESG ratings. Where this is central to the strategy you should expect assets in most sectors. Strategies vary.

Passive / index driven strategy

Only uses an investment index to direct where they can invest. Fund strategies and indices vary.

Use stock / securities lending

Uses specialist strategies to aid performance which involve ‘lending’ assets to others at specific points in time.

Unscreened Assets & Cash
Assets typically aligned to sustainability objectives 70 - 79%

Holds between 70-79% of assets which align to the sustainability objectives; which are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets.

Fund Management Company Information

About The Business
Responsible ownership / stewardship policy or strategy (AFM company wide)

Finds fund management companies that have a published company wide stewardship, engagement and / or responsible ownership policy or strategy that covers all investments. Stewardship typically involves encouraging higher ESG standards through voting and dialogue.

ESG / SRI engagement (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that actively encourage higher 'environmental, social and governance' and/or 'sustainable and responsible investment' practices across investee companies - typically where the aim is to encourage positive change that is aligned with the best interests of investors. Strategies vary. See additional information and options.

Vote all* shares at AGMs / EGMs (AFM company wide)

Find fund managers that vote all* the shares they own at Annual General Meetings and Extraordinary General Meetings. A commitment to voting shares is a key indicator of 'responsible share ownership' demonstrating their support for or disagreement with management policy. (*situations can legitimately, occasionally occur where voting proves impossible, but in principle all shares should be voted.)

Sustainable property strategy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that take sustainability criteria into account when selecting and/or managing all of their property / real estate investments.

Senior management KPIs include environmental goals (AFM company wide)

The leadership team of this asset manager have performance targets linked to environmental goals.

Invests in newly listed companies (AFM company wide)

This asset management company invests in companies which have recently listed on a stock exchange (which is important as it can help grow new businesses).

Invests in new sustainability linked bond issuances (AFM company wide)

Asset management company has investments in bonds designed to meet sustainability requirements - however these assets may not be 'ringfenced' for this purpose. See fund manager website for details.

Offer unstructured intermediary sustainable investment training

Fund management entity offers unstructured intermediary training on sustainable investment (ie for financial advisers and wealth managers)

Collaborations & Affiliations
PRI signatory

Find fund management companies that have signed up to the UN backed 'Principles of Responsible Investment'.

TNFD forum member (AFM company wide)

A member of the Taskforce for Nature Related Financial Disclosures group which aims to aid risk management and shift money towards nature-positive outcomes.

Resources
In-house responsible ownership / voting expertise

Find fund management companies that employ people to steer and support fund managers in voting shares at company AGM's and EGMs in ways that are consistent with encouraging higher ESG/sustainability standards.

Employ specialist ESG / SRI / sustainability researchers

Find a fund management company that directly employs specialist ESG/SRI/sustainability researchers or analysts. This allows asset managers to discuss environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities directly with companies.

Accreditations
UK Stewardship Code signatory (AFM company wide)

Find fund managers that are signatories to the FRC UK Stewardship Code, which sets out a framework for constructive investor / investee relations where fund managers are encouraged to behave like responsible, typically longer term 'company owners'.

Engagement Approach
Engaging on climate change issues

Fund manager has stewardship /responsible ownership strategy that is focused on addressing climate change with investee assets.

Engaging with fossil fuel companies on climate change

Asset manager has a stewardship /responsible ownership strategy that involves working with fossil fuel companies on climate change related issues. See fund manager website for details.

Engaging to reduce plastics pollution / waste

Asset manager has stewardship /responsible ownership strategy with involves encouraging investee asset to reduce plastic waste and pollution.

Engaging on biodiversity / nature issues

The asset manager has a responsible ownership / stewardship strategy that focuses on biodiversity and nature issues relating to the assets they invest the aim of which will be to reduce harm and or deliver improvement. Strategies vary. https://tnfd.global

Engaging on human rights issues

Asset manager has responsible ownership / stewardship strategy in place which aims to address human rights issues in investee companies (and potentially their suppliers) with the aim of raising standards

Engaging on labour / employment issues

Asset manager has responsible ownership / stewardship strategy in place that aims to improve labour standards for the benefit of employees in investee companies (and potentially their suppliers)

Engaging on diversity, equality and / or inclusion issues

Asset management company has a stewardship strategy in place which involves working to raise diversity, equality and inclusion standards across investee assets

Engaging to stop modern slavery

working with the assets they hold to help stamp out modern slavery - where direct or indirect company employees are exploited for business benefits.

Engaging on governance issues

Fund managers have stewardship strategies in place that focus on improving governance standards across investee assets

Engaging on mental health issues

Asset manager has stewardship strategy in place which involves discussing mental health issues with investee companies - with the aim of raising standards

Engaging on responsible supply chain issues

Has a stewardship / responsible ownership strategy that encourages responsible supply chain - ie the managers will discuss environmental, social and governance issues with investee companies with the aim of raising standards

Engaging on the responsible use of AI

Working to address sustainability, ESG and related concerns around artificial intelligence.

Stewardship escalation policy

Escalation policies describe how a manager will proceed if stewardship / engagement activity is not successful in the short term.

Climate & Net Zero Transition
Encourage carbon / greenhouse gas reduction (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that are working with the companies they invest in to encourage reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.

‘Forward Looking Climate Metrics’ published / ITR (AFM company wide)

Finds organisations / fund managers that have published ‘forward looking climate metrics’ e.g. 'implied temperature rise' data that are a total of the asset management company's share (% owned) of all the investee company emissions of the assets they manage, as well as their own direct and other indirect emissions.

In-house carbon / GHG reduction policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that are working to reduce their own (fund management company) carbon/greenhouse gas emissions.

Transparency
Publish responsible ownership / stewardship report (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that publish a report detailing their responsible investment ownership - also known as 'Stewardship' - activity.

Full SRI / responsible ownership policy information on company website

Find companies that publish information about their sustainable and responsible investment strategies on their company website.

Publish full voting record (AFM company wide)

Fund management companies that publish a full record of how they vote their shares at AGMs (annual general meetings) and EGMs (extraordinary general meetings). Voting strategies have an important role to play encouraging higher environmental, social and governance standards.

Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Policy:

This fund tracks the Morningstar UK ESG Enhanced Index. It excludes companies with severe ESG controversies and applies an optimisation process to improve ESG outcomes. The fund aims to reduce carbon intensity and ESG risk while preserving the financial characteristics of the UK equity market. It supports responsible investment by aligning with ESG best practices and promoting companies with stronger sustainability credentials.

Process:

This fund tracks the Morningstar UK ESG Enhanced Index. The index applies ESG screens to exclude companies with poor ESG practices and uses an optimisation process to improve ESG outcomes. ESG data is sourced from Sustainalytics and Morningstar. The fund is passively managed by BlackRock’s Index Equity team, which uses proprietary tools and third-party data to replicate the index. The fund is rebalanced quarterly and aims to reduce ESG risk and carbon intensity while maintaining UK equity exposure.

Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies:

Teams with sustainability-related areas of focus:

Sustainable & Transition Solutions team (30+ professionals) leads BlackRock's sustainability and transition strategy, drives cross-functional change, supports client and external engagement, powers product ideation, and embeds sustainable expertise across the firm in partnership with other teams.     

Sustainable Investment Research & Analytics (10+ professionals) within the BlackRock Investment Institute produces thought leadership and research on the implications of the transition on portfolio construction. They produce macro and portfolio research, including integrating climate into BlackRock's Capital Market assumptions ("CMAs").

BlackRock Investment Stewardship (60+ professionals) serves as an important link between clients and the companies they invest in, engaging with investee company leadership and proxy voting at shareholder meetings when authorized by clients to do so. Where appropriate, BIS engages with companies on climate-related issues

BlackRock Active Investment Stewardship (10+ professionals) partners with BlackRock’s active investment teams on company engagement and voting in relation to their holdings.  BAIS was established in January 2025 to more closely align the range of investment strategies on the active investment platform. 

Corporate Sustainability leads efforts to drive operational sustainability, establish sustainable business programs and policies, and engage key stakeholders on BlackRock’s contribution towards the low-carbon transition and establish BlackRock’s operational sustainability goals.

 Sustainability incorporated into broader functional responsibilities:

Investment Divisions: BlackRock investment divisions include Portfolio Management Group, Global Markets & Index Investments, and Equity Private Markets. Active portfolio teams manage exposure to financially material E, S, and/or G risks, and consider financially material E, S, and/or G information in their investment processes, as applicable and consistent with client goals. Investment teams can often have sustainability-focused units (e.g. Fixed Income ESG Investment Team), as well as investment themes dedicated to sustainable funds (e.g Decarbonization Partners, and Climate Infrastructure)

Risk & Quantitative Analysis Group (RQA) is BlackRock's risk management function. The group is responsible for BlackRock’s Investment and Enterprise risk management frameworks and serves as a key part of the second line of defense along with BlackRock Legal and Compliance. RQA evaluates investment risks, including financially material E, S and/or G risks as part of regular investment risk management processes and, where applicable, during regular reviews with portfolio managers. This helps to ensure that such risks are understood, deliberate, and consistent with client objectives. RQA also has a dedicated Sustainability Risk group that partners with risk managers and businesses to oversee sustainability risk across the platform.

Global Product Solutions leads sustainable product innovation and development, governance, and strategy across the global product platform.

Government Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP) strives to engage constructively in financial services public policy dialogue, including in relation to climate risk and sustainability disclosures, through participation in industry initiatives, engagement with regulators and standard setters around the world, and through the whitepapers, comment letters and consultation responses regularly published on BlackRock's website.

Aladdin makes available climate and ESG data and physical and transition risk analytics into investors' workflows, regulatory reporting, and decarbonization/temperature alignment analysis delivered through Aladdin. The Aladdin Sustainability Lab (90+ professionals) oversees Aladdin's sustainability-, transition-, and climate-related data, analytics and innovation, including BlackRock’s Aladdin Climate platform.

Enterprise Services includes the Health & Safety team which monitors adherence to local environmental regulations. The Corporate Real Estate, Space Planning, Critical Infrastructure and Workplace Experience teams work alongside key stakeholders such as the employee-run Green Team Network ("GTN") to plan and implement sustainability efforts in offices. The Business Continuity Management team manages disaster recovery planning, strategy, and crisis management activities. 

SDR Labelling:

Unlabelled with sustainable characteristics

Fund Holdings

Disclaimer

Risk Warnings

Capital at risk. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and are not guaranteed. Investors may not get back the amount originally invested.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of current or future results and should not be the sole factor of consideration when selecting a product or strategy.

Changes in the rates of exchange between currencies may cause the value of investments to diminish or increase. Fluctuation may be particularly marked in the case of a higher volatility fund and the value of an investment may fall suddenly and substantially. Levels and basis of taxation may change from time to time and depend on personal individual circumstances.

Important information

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