SUTL Cazenove Sustainable Balanced Fund (Schroders)
SRI Style:
Sustainable Style
SDR Labelling:
Sustainability Focus label
Product:
OEIC
Fund Region:
Global
Fund Asset Type:
Multi Asset
Launch Date:
29/04/2022
Last Amended:
Jul 2023
Dialshifter (
):
Fund/Portfolio Size:
£237.57m
(as at: 09/01/2026)
ISIN:
GB00BJRSV397, GB00BJRSV405, GB00BJRSV280, GB00BJRSV173, LU2416646276
Contact Us:
Objectives:
The fund aims to provide capital growth and income of CPI+3.25% (after fees have been deducted) over any five to seven year period by investing in a diversified range of assets and markets worldwide which meet the investment manager's sustainability criteria. Please note that the target return is not guaranteed and your capital is at risk.
Sustainable, Responsible
&/or ESG Overview:
Fund manager declined to supply fund update - Fund last updated July 2023
The fund is a diversified portfolio of equities, bonds, alternatives and cash intending to deliver long-term growth ahead of inflation. It targets an attractive return of UK inflation (as measured by the Consumer Price Index) plus 3.25% per annum over any five-to-seven year period, investing in assets that meet the fund’s sustainable criteria and have positive impact on people and planet. Please note that the target return is not guaranteed. We measure and manage the impact created by the underlying investments.
Primary fund last amended:
Jul 2023
Information directly from fund manager.
Fund Filters
Sustainability - General
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.
Has a significant focus on sustainability issues
Aim to invest (and manage assets) in ways that help to address all or some of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). See https://sdgs.un.org/goals).
Environmental - General
Has policies which relate to environmental issues. These will typically set out their stance on issues such as pollution, climate change, resource management, biodiversity loss, carbon emissions, plastics and/or additional environmental impacts. Strategies vary.
Nature & Biodiversity
Avoids assets / companies directly involved in genetic engineering
Climate Change & Energy
Avoid investment in major coal, oil and/or gas (extraction) companies. Strategies vary.
Avoid companies involved in fracking and tar sands - which are widely regarded as controversial methods of oil and gas extraction. Strategies vary.
Avoid investing in companies / assets with coal, oil and gas reserves. See individual entry information for further details.
Excludes companies and other assets with direct involvement in fossil fuel exploration (eg coal, oil and gas companies)
Excludes companies / assets with indirect involvement in fossil fuel exploration. This may relate to providers of finance and / or insurance and providers of other services.
Social / Employment
Has policies which set out their approach to social issues (e.g. human rights, labour standards, equal opportunities, child labour and/or adherence to internationally recognised codes such as the UN Global Compact). Strategies with social policies typically avoid companies with low standards and/or work to encourage higher standards. See fund information for detail.
Has a policy aimed at protecting vulnerable workers such as those on zero hour / informal contracts working in the gig economy
Ethical Values Led Exclusions
Has policies that set out their position on ethical or 'personal values' based issues. Strategies vary.
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.
Avoids companies that manufacture weapons intended specifically for military use. Strategies vary - may or may not include non-strategic military products.
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.
Avoids companies that produce alcohol. Strategies vary; some may allow a small proportion of revenue to come from this area.
Avoids companies with significant involvement in the gambling industry. Some may allow a small proportion of revenues to come from this area.
Avoids companies that derive significant income from pornography and related areas. Strategies vary.
Banking & Financials
Excludes financial services companies with widely criticised, aggressive lending practices where interest rates are typically very high, (eg ‘doorstep lending’)
Governance & Management
Avoids investing in companies with poor governance practices.(e.g. board structure, management practices etc.) Views may however vary on what counts as 'poor' practices - and funds may not immediately divest as they may prefer to work to encourage higher standards.
Has policies explaining how managers will respond to assets / companies that do not comply with relevant anti-bribery and anti-corruption standards or laws. Strategies vary; options include stewardship/ engagement and divestment - or a combination.
Encourage the companies they invest in to have more diverse board structures (e.g. more women on boards)
Encourage the banks and insurance companies they invest in to publish climate change related financial information - as set out by the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (with the aim of helping investors measure and respond to climate risk).
Aim to encourage higher ESG standards through responsible ownership / stewardship / engagement /voting activity
Product / Service Governance
Find fund / asset managers that factor in 'environmental, social and governance' issues as part of their investment decision making process. A focus on 'ESG' typically means a fund is carrying out additional research to help reduce ESG related risks. It does not necessarily mean a focus on sustainability. Strategies vary. See fund literature.
Impact Methodologies
Has policies that aim to help or support the delivery of positive social or environmental impacts (or societal/real world outcomes) by investing in companies they regard as beneficial to people and / or the planet. Strategies vary.
Aims to measure the positive real world environmental and / or social benefits that are associated with their investment strategy. Investments that aim to deliver positive impacts and measure those impacts may be referred to as 'Impact' - although impact measurement is not restricted to Impact investments. Strategies vary.
How The Fund/Portfolio Works
Focuses on finding and investing in companies with positive / beneficial attributes. This strategy can be applied in addition to exclusion criteria and engagement/stewardship activity.
Has principle 'ethical approach' to avoid companies by using negative screening criteria. Strategies vary.
Has principle approach to apply positive or negative ethical, social and / or environmental screens. Strictly screened investments are likely to exclude more companies than other related options. Strategies vary.
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.
Invests in assets which can be 'mapped' (reviewed) their investment selection and management strategies to identify which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) the fund is helping to address.
Publish explanations of their ethical, social and/or environmental policies online (i.e. investment decision making strategies/ buy/sell &/or asset management strategies).
Intended Clients & Product Options
Designed to meet the needs of individual investors with an interest in sustainability issues.
Designed to meet the needs of individual investors with an interest in ‘Impact investment’ which help or support the delivery of positive social or environmental impacts (or societal/real world outcomes) by investing in companies regarded as beneficial to people and / or the planet. Strategies vary.
Has attributes that commonly suit the aims of investors of faith - although they may not be specifically marketed as being only for religious investors. Strategies vary (as do investor aims).
Labels & Accreditations
Find options that have chosen to adopt one of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) SDR labels. Please note: there are a range of reasons why potentially relevant options may not use an SDR label eg. adopting a label may be work in progress, the manager may not yet be allowed to do so because of the product type, a manager may feel they are insufficiently aligned to SDR requirements.
Fund Management Company Information
About The Business
Finds fund / asset 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.
Find fund / asset 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.
Find fund / asset management companies that take sustainability criteria into account when selecting and/or managing all of their property / real estate investments.
The leadership team of this fund / asset manager have performance targets linked to environmental goals.
Find fund / asset management companies that aim to align all their investments (across all funds) to help meet the aims of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Find options run by managers that apply Responsible ownership or 'Stewardship' policies to all or most of their investment assets. This means active involvement (e.g. voting, dialogue) with the companies across all or most funds, products and services.
Find fund / asset management companies that encourage the companies they invest in to have strong diversity, race, gender and other equality policies across all assets held, not simply screened or themed SRI/ESG funds. (ie Asset Management company wide).
Collaborations & Affiliations
Find fund / asset management companies that have signed up to the UN backed 'Principles of Responsible Investment'.
Find fund / asset management companies that have partnered with Fund EcoMarket - meaning that they are helping to improve access to information on sustainable and responsible investment by paying an annual fee to us which enables us to publish information for free. Partner funds are listed ahead of other funds and have their logos displayed.
Fund management entity is a member of the Investment Association https://www.theia.org/
Resources
Find fund / asset 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.
Find a fund / asset 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.
Find fund / asset management companies that makes use of expert external research companies. This can help deliver specialist expertise and means resources are pooled with other investors.
Finds organisations / fund managers that have one or more ESG/sustainability experts on all investment teams or 'desks' (all asset types)
Accreditations
Finds organisations / fund managers that have an A+ PRI rating - meaning they are highly rated according to the 'Principles of Responsible Investment'
Find fund / asset managers that are signatories to the FRC UK Stewardship Code, which sets out a framework for constructive investor / investee relations where managers are encouraged to behave like responsible, typically longer term 'company owners'.
Engagement Approach
Find fund / asset management companies that regularly initiate or run industry wide (collaborative) investor projects aimed at raising environmental, social and governance standards amongst investee companies.
Fund / asset manager has stewardship /responsible ownership strategy that is focused on addressing climate change with investee assets.
Fund / 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.
Fund / asset manager has a responsible ownership / stewardship strategy which means they are working to encourage the shift to more sustainable business practices in ways that respect and are sensitive to social issues and the impact change has on people effected by the changes that are taking place. https://www.transitionpathwayinitiative.org/ https://transitiontaskforce.net/
Fund / 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)
Climate & Net Zero Transition
Fund / asset management organisations that have pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to ‘net zero’. Strategies vary - this area is changing rapidly.
This fund / asset management company has set a date by which they plan to achieve net zero greenhouse gas / CO2e emissions.
Find fund / asset management companies that are working with the companies they invest in to encourage reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.
Finds organisations / fund management companies that are in the process of working out how to make a ‘net zero commitment’ - meaning that when that is finalised they will have started the process of reducing their total greenhouse gas emissions to 'zero'.
Transparency
Find fund / asset management companies that publish information about their sustainable and responsible investment strategies on their company website.
Find fund / asset management companies that will supply information about their sustainable and responsible investment activity on request.
Find fund / asset management companies that have supplied Dialshifter information. See Dialshifter tab within record for more information.
Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Policy:
Our intention is for the fund to have a positive impact on people and the planet. We will invest Avoiding harm through ESG integration and exclusions, Benefiting society through responsible business activities and Contributing to solutions through investing for impact. We will also use our influence to push for progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
We make the following commitments to:
Avoid harm:
- screening policy excluding areas of significant social or environmental harm
- integrate environmental, social and governance factors within the investment selection process, across all asset classes
- support the Paris Agreement on Climate Change by reducing total portfolio emissions and by purchasing high quality carbon offsets
Benefit society:
- select global leaders in sustainability that promote social and economic development through responsible business activity
Contribute to solutions:
- allocate capital to address environmental and social need through thematic and impact investments
- manage, measure and report the impact of the Fund on people and the planet
Influence:
- seek to influence companies, managers and policy makers through engagement and voting, to encourage businesses to make progress towards the SDGs
- collaborate with others to maximise our influence
Carbon offsetting
To support our efforts to have a positive impact on the planet we offset the portfolio’s carbon emissions on a quarterly basis, based on scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions from the equities.
We work with social enterprise Ecologi, to buy carbon credits from environmental projects across the world, with a focus on reforestation and conservation of biodiverse forests. We will report on the environmental projects and their impact within our annual impact report. The cost of the projects will be paid for by the firm and no charge is passed to investors. Details of the carbon credits purchased and projects supported can be seen here.
Exclusions
The fund will not invest in companies which fail to meet the responsible investment criteria defined as companies involved in the following activities:
- alcohol (>10% revenues)
- armaments (>10% revenues)
- fossil fuels: extraction, production and refining of coal, oil and gas (>10% revenues)
- gambling (>10% revenues)
- high interest rate lending (>10% revenues)
- human embryonic cloning (>10% revenues)
- indiscriminate weaponry (no tolerance)
- pornography (>3% revenues)
- tobacco (>10% revenues)
The exclusions policy reflects common concerns of charities. It will be reviewed regularly and may be amended as considered necessary.
To aid diversification we will incorporate the use of pooled funds and third-party managers. As screening policies may differ, we will select funds that currently exhibit no exposure to the above sectors and will continue to monitor the underlying holdings for compliance.
Measuring impact on people and planet
Further to incorporating ESG analysis into our investment selection and holding impact investments, we aim to quantify our approach on the planet and its people. This approach is designed to help trustees understand and demonstrate the impact of their investment portfolio to stakeholders, benchmarked against a global equity index.
We use our proprietary award-winning impact measurement tool, SustainEx, to measure these factors. The tool evaluates such metrics as a company’s tax contributions, the salaries they pay, levels of workforce diversity as well as other unpriced social burdens such as contribution to obesity, smoking or workplace discrimination to understand how positive or negative a company’s operations are. Alongside these measures, positive social benefits might include connectivity, innovation, financial inclusion or medical provisions.
Process:
The role of internal and external data sources
We have invested an extensive amount into ESG data collection. Our primary providers are MSCI, Sustainlytics and Refinitiv. We also source data from unique sources such as employee opinions on Glassdoor website and customer reviews from sites such as Trustpilot. We have a dedicated data insights team who coordinate deliverance of this data into our proprietary ESG tools. While this data is useful as part of our assessment, we strongly believe that in order to create a holistic view of the sustainability of an investment a manager must complete a qualitative assessment, supported by proprietary ESG tools and direct dialog with underlying investments.
Proprietary ESG tools
Our Sustainable Investment Team has developed a number of proprietary ESG tools to help our investment managers and analysts identify, understand and manage ESG risks and opportunities. CONTEXT and SustainEx, our flagship tools, are outlined below.
CONTEXT looks at logical and wide-ranging data to assess how a company’s relationship with its stakeholders (customers, suppliers, regulators, environment, employees, communities) and calculates a score for each company. The score will vary across investment strategies – CONTEXT is interactive and highly customisable, enabling analysts to select the most material ESG factors for each sector, weight their importance and apply relevant metrics. Analysts are then able to compare companies based on the metrics selected, their own company assessment scores or adjusted rankings (by size, sector or region). The unique features of the tool give analysts the flexibility to make company specific adjustments to reflect their specialist knowledge.
SustainEx is our award-winning impact measurement tool. It scientifically combines measures of both the harm companies can do and the good they can bring to arrive at an aggregate measure of each firm’s social and environmental impact, allowing investors to target their ESG investments effectively. It quantifies the extent to which companies are in credit or deficit with the societies to which they belong, and the risks they face if the costs they externalise are pushed into companies’ own costs.
Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies:
We are committed to accelerating positive change, by allocating capital away from harmful businesses and towards those companies that contribute to solutions. Schroders has been named as one of the world’s most influential financial companies making a meaningful contribution to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Source: World Benchmarking Alliance). Furthermore, we have been awarded A+ for the last six consecutive years by the UNPRI assessment. By partnering with us, you are able to make a real difference.
We benefit from the resources of the award-winning sustainability team of dedicated ESG specialists, who coordinate our engagement, voting and sector research. Using our influence for good is a priority for us. We recognise that companies play a critical role in society and are exposed to, and can influence, social and environmental change. We report on all engagement activities within our quarterly sustainability reports, including more detailed reports for clients. We also disclose our voting activity publicly, including details of votes against management. The reports are publicly available on our website.
Furthermore, we look to expand our influence across the investment industry and to engage with all asset managers in whose funds we invest. We have provided a snapshot of our activities and capabilities in this area.
| Fund Name | SRI Style | SDR Labelling | Product | Region | Asset Type | Launch Date | Last Amended |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SUTL Cazenove Sustainable Balanced Fund (Schroders) |
Sustainable Style | Sustainability Focus label | OEIC | Global | Multi Asset | 29/04/2022 | Jul 2023 | |
ObjectivesThe fund aims to provide capital growth and income of CPI+3.25% (after fees have been deducted) over any five to seven year period by investing in a diversified range of assets and markets worldwide which meet the investment manager's sustainability criteria. Please note that the target return is not guaranteed and your capital is at risk. |
Fund/Portfolio Size: £237.57m (as at: 09/01/2026) ISIN: GB00BJRSV397, GB00BJRSV405, GB00BJRSV280, GB00BJRSV173, LU2416646276 Contact Us: james.brennan@cazenovecapital.com |
|||||||
Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG OverviewFund manager declined to supply fund update - Fund last updated July 2023
The fund is a diversified portfolio of equities, bonds, alternatives and cash intending to deliver long-term growth ahead of inflation. It targets an attractive return of UK inflation (as measured by the Consumer Price Index) plus 3.25% per annum over any five-to-seven year period, investing in assets that meet the fund’s sustainable criteria and have positive impact on people and planet. Please note that the target return is not guaranteed. We measure and manage the impact created by the underlying investments. |
||||||||
|
Primary fund last amended: Jul 2023 |
||||||||
|
Information received directly from Fund Manager |
||||||||
|
Please select what you would like to read:
Fund FiltersSustainability - 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.
Sustainability focus
Has a significant focus on sustainability issues
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) focus
Aim to invest (and manage assets) in ways that help to address all or some of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). See https://sdgs.un.org/goals). Environmental - General
Environmental policy
Has policies which relate to environmental issues. These will typically set out their stance on issues such as pollution, climate change, resource management, biodiversity loss, carbon emissions, plastics and/or additional environmental impacts. Strategies vary. Nature & Biodiversity
Genetic engineering exclusion
Avoids assets / companies directly involved in genetic engineering Climate Change & Energy
Coal, oil & / or gas majors excluded
Avoid investment in major coal, oil and/or gas (extraction) companies. Strategies vary.
Fracking & tar sands excluded
Avoid companies involved in fracking and tar sands - which are widely regarded as controversial methods of oil and gas extraction. Strategies vary.
Fossil fuel reserves exclusion
Avoid investing in companies / assets with coal, oil and gas reserves. See individual entry information for further details.
Fossil fuel exploration exclusion - direct involvement
Excludes companies and other assets with direct involvement in fossil fuel exploration (eg coal, oil and gas companies)
Fossil fuel exploration exclusion – indirect involvement
Excludes companies / assets with indirect involvement in fossil fuel exploration. This may relate to providers of finance and / or insurance and providers of other services. Social / Employment
Social policy
Has policies which set out their approach to social issues (e.g. human rights, labour standards, equal opportunities, child labour and/or adherence to internationally recognised codes such as the UN Global Compact). Strategies with social policies typically avoid companies with low standards and/or work to encourage higher standards. See fund information for detail.
Vulnerable / gig workers protection policy
Has a policy aimed at protecting vulnerable workers such as those on zero hour / informal contracts working in the gig economy Ethical Values Led Exclusions
Ethical policies
Has policies that set out their position on ethical or 'personal values' based issues. Strategies vary.
Tobacco & 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.
Armaments manufacturers avoided
Avoids companies that manufacture weapons intended specifically for military use. Strategies vary - may or may not include non-strategic military products.
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
Avoids companies that derive significant income from pornography and related areas. Strategies vary. Banking & Financials
Predatory lending exclusion
Excludes financial services companies with widely criticised, aggressive lending practices where interest rates are typically very high, (eg ‘doorstep lending’) Governance & Management
Avoids companies with poor governance
Avoids investing in companies with poor governance practices.(e.g. board structure, management practices etc.) Views may however vary on what counts as 'poor' practices - and funds may not immediately divest as they may prefer to work to encourage higher standards.
Anti-bribery & corruption policy
Has policies explaining how managers will respond to assets / companies that do not comply with relevant anti-bribery and anti-corruption standards or laws. Strategies vary; options include stewardship/ engagement and divestment - or a combination.
Encourage board diversity e.g. gender
Encourage the companies they invest in to have more diverse board structures (e.g. more women on boards)
Encourage TCFD alignment for banks & insurance companies
Encourage the banks and insurance companies they invest in to publish climate change related financial information - as set out by the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (with the aim of helping investors measure and respond to climate risk).
Encourage higher ESG standards through stewardship activity
Aim to encourage higher ESG standards through responsible ownership / stewardship / engagement /voting activity Product / Service Governance
ESG integration strategy
Find fund / asset managers that factor in 'environmental, social and governance' issues as part of their investment decision making process. A focus on 'ESG' typically means a fund is carrying out additional research to help reduce ESG related risks. It does not necessarily mean a focus on sustainability. Strategies vary. See fund literature. Impact Methodologies
Aims to generate positive impacts (or 'outcomes')
Has policies that aim to help or support the delivery of positive social or environmental impacts (or societal/real world outcomes) by investing in companies they regard as beneficial to people and / or the planet. Strategies vary.
Measures positive impacts
Aims to measure the positive real world environmental and / or social benefits that are associated with their investment strategy. Investments that aim to deliver positive impacts and measure those impacts may be referred to as 'Impact' - although impact measurement is not restricted to Impact investments. Strategies vary. How The Fund/Portfolio Works
Positive selection bias
Focuses on finding and investing in companies with positive / beneficial attributes. This strategy can be applied in addition to exclusion criteria and engagement/stewardship activity.
Negative selection bias
Has principle 'ethical approach' to avoid companies by using negative screening criteria. Strategies vary.
Strictly screened ethical investment
Has principle approach to apply positive or negative ethical, social and / or environmental screens. Strictly screened investments are likely to exclude more companies than other related options. Strategies vary.
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.
Assets mapped to SDGs
Invests in assets which can be 'mapped' (reviewed) their investment selection and management strategies to identify which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) the fund is helping to address.
SRI / ESG / Ethical policies explained on website
Publish explanations of their ethical, social and/or environmental policies online (i.e. investment decision making strategies/ buy/sell &/or asset management strategies). Intended Clients & Product Options
Intended for clients interested in sustainability
Designed to meet the needs of individual investors with an interest in sustainability issues.
Intended for clients who want to have a positive impact
Designed to meet the needs of individual investors with an interest in ‘Impact investment’ which help or support the delivery of positive social or environmental impacts (or societal/real world outcomes) by investing in companies regarded as beneficial to people and / or the planet. Strategies vary.
Faith friendly
Has attributes that commonly suit the aims of investors of faith - although they may not be specifically marketed as being only for religious investors. Strategies vary (as do investor aims). Labels & Accreditations
SDR Labelled
Find options that have chosen to adopt one of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) SDR labels. Please note: there are a range of reasons why potentially relevant options may not use an SDR label eg. adopting a label may be work in progress, the manager may not yet be allowed to do so because of the product type, a manager may feel they are insufficiently aligned to SDR requirements. Fund Management Company InformationAbout The Business
Responsible ownership / stewardship policy or strategy (AFM companywide)
Finds fund / asset 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 companywide)
Find fund / asset 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.
Sustainable property strategy (AFM companywide)
Find fund / asset 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 companywide)
The leadership team of this fund / asset manager have performance targets linked to environmental goals.
SDG aligned aims / objectives (AFM companywide)
Find fund / asset management companies that aim to align all their investments (across all funds) to help meet the aims of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Responsible ownership policy for non SRI / sustainable options (AFM companywide)
Find options run by managers that apply Responsible ownership or 'Stewardship' policies to all or most of their investment assets. This means active involvement (e.g. voting, dialogue) with the companies across all or most funds, products and services.
Diversity, equality & inclusion engagement policy (AFM companywide)
Find fund / asset management companies that encourage the companies they invest in to have strong diversity, race, gender and other equality policies across all assets held, not simply screened or themed SRI/ESG funds. (ie Asset Management company wide). Collaborations & Affiliations
PRI signatory
Find fund / asset management companies that have signed up to the UN backed 'Principles of Responsible Investment'.
Fund EcoMarket partner
Find fund / asset management companies that have partnered with Fund EcoMarket - meaning that they are helping to improve access to information on sustainable and responsible investment by paying an annual fee to us which enables us to publish information for free. Partner funds are listed ahead of other funds and have their logos displayed.
Investment Association (IA) member
Fund management entity is a member of the Investment Association https://www.theia.org/ Resources
In-house responsible ownership / voting expertise
Find fund / asset 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 / asset 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.
Use specialist ESG / SRI / sustainability research companies
Find fund / asset management companies that makes use of expert external research companies. This can help deliver specialist expertise and means resources are pooled with other investors.
ESG specialists on all investment desks (AFM companywide)
Finds organisations / fund managers that have one or more ESG/sustainability experts on all investment teams or 'desks' (all asset types) Accreditations
PRI A+ rated (AFM companywide)
Finds organisations / fund managers that have an A+ PRI rating - meaning they are highly rated according to the 'Principles of Responsible Investment'
UK Stewardship Code signatory (AFM companywide)
Find fund / asset managers that are signatories to the FRC UK Stewardship Code, which sets out a framework for constructive investor / investee relations where managers are encouraged to behave like responsible, typically longer term 'company owners'. Engagement Approach
Regularly lead collaborative ESG initiatives (AFM companywide)
Find fund / asset management companies that regularly initiate or run industry wide (collaborative) investor projects aimed at raising environmental, social and governance standards amongst investee companies.
Engaging on climate change issues
Fund / asset manager has stewardship /responsible ownership strategy that is focused on addressing climate change with investee assets.
Engaging with fossil fuel companies on climate change
Fund / 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 encourage a Just Transition
Fund / asset manager has a responsible ownership / stewardship strategy which means they are working to encourage the shift to more sustainable business practices in ways that respect and are sensitive to social issues and the impact change has on people effected by the changes that are taking place. https://www.transitionpathwayinitiative.org/ https://transitiontaskforce.net/
Engaging on labour / employment issues
Fund / 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) Climate & Net Zero Transition
Net Zero commitment (AFM companywide)
Fund / asset management organisations that have pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to ‘net zero’. Strategies vary - this area is changing rapidly.
Net Zero - have set a Net Zero target date (AFM companywide)
This fund / asset management company has set a date by which they plan to achieve net zero greenhouse gas / CO2e emissions.
Encourage carbon / greenhouse gas reduction (AFM companywide)
Find fund / asset management companies that are working with the companies they invest in to encourage reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.
Working towards a ‘Net Zero’ commitment (AFM companywide)
Finds organisations / fund management companies that are in the process of working out how to make a ‘net zero commitment’ - meaning that when that is finalised they will have started the process of reducing their total greenhouse gas emissions to 'zero'. Transparency
Full stewardship / responsible ownership policy information on company website
Find fund / asset management companies that publish information about their sustainable and responsible investment strategies on their company website.
Full stewardship / responsible ownership policy information available on request
Find fund / asset management companies that will supply information about their sustainable and responsible investment activity on request.
Dialshifter statement
Find fund / asset management companies that have supplied Dialshifter information. See Dialshifter tab within record for more information. Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Policy:Our intention is for the fund to have a positive impact on people and the planet. We will invest Avoiding harm through ESG integration and exclusions, Benefiting society through responsible business activities and Contributing to solutions through investing for impact. We will also use our influence to push for progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We make the following commitments to: Avoid harm:
Benefit society:
Contribute to solutions:
Influence:
Carbon offsetting To support our efforts to have a positive impact on the planet we offset the portfolio’s carbon emissions on a quarterly basis, based on scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions from the equities. We work with social enterprise Ecologi, to buy carbon credits from environmental projects across the world, with a focus on reforestation and conservation of biodiverse forests. We will report on the environmental projects and their impact within our annual impact report. The cost of the projects will be paid for by the firm and no charge is passed to investors. Details of the carbon credits purchased and projects supported can be seen here. Exclusions The fund will not invest in companies which fail to meet the responsible investment criteria defined as companies involved in the following activities:
The exclusions policy reflects common concerns of charities. It will be reviewed regularly and may be amended as considered necessary. To aid diversification we will incorporate the use of pooled funds and third-party managers. As screening policies may differ, we will select funds that currently exhibit no exposure to the above sectors and will continue to monitor the underlying holdings for compliance. Measuring impact on people and planet Further to incorporating ESG analysis into our investment selection and holding impact investments, we aim to quantify our approach on the planet and its people. This approach is designed to help trustees understand and demonstrate the impact of their investment portfolio to stakeholders, benchmarked against a global equity index. We use our proprietary award-winning impact measurement tool, SustainEx, to measure these factors. The tool evaluates such metrics as a company’s tax contributions, the salaries they pay, levels of workforce diversity as well as other unpriced social burdens such as contribution to obesity, smoking or workplace discrimination to understand how positive or negative a company’s operations are. Alongside these measures, positive social benefits might include connectivity, innovation, financial inclusion or medical provisions. Process:The role of internal and external data sources We have invested an extensive amount into ESG data collection. Our primary providers are MSCI, Sustainlytics and Refinitiv. We also source data from unique sources such as employee opinions on Glassdoor website and customer reviews from sites such as Trustpilot. We have a dedicated data insights team who coordinate deliverance of this data into our proprietary ESG tools. While this data is useful as part of our assessment, we strongly believe that in order to create a holistic view of the sustainability of an investment a manager must complete a qualitative assessment, supported by proprietary ESG tools and direct dialog with underlying investments. Proprietary ESG tools Our Sustainable Investment Team has developed a number of proprietary ESG tools to help our investment managers and analysts identify, understand and manage ESG risks and opportunities. CONTEXT and SustainEx, our flagship tools, are outlined below. CONTEXT looks at logical and wide-ranging data to assess how a company’s relationship with its stakeholders (customers, suppliers, regulators, environment, employees, communities) and calculates a score for each company. The score will vary across investment strategies – CONTEXT is interactive and highly customisable, enabling analysts to select the most material ESG factors for each sector, weight their importance and apply relevant metrics. Analysts are then able to compare companies based on the metrics selected, their own company assessment scores or adjusted rankings (by size, sector or region). The unique features of the tool give analysts the flexibility to make company specific adjustments to reflect their specialist knowledge. SustainEx is our award-winning impact measurement tool. It scientifically combines measures of both the harm companies can do and the good they can bring to arrive at an aggregate measure of each firm’s social and environmental impact, allowing investors to target their ESG investments effectively. It quantifies the extent to which companies are in credit or deficit with the societies to which they belong, and the risks they face if the costs they externalise are pushed into companies’ own costs. Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies:We are committed to accelerating positive change, by allocating capital away from harmful businesses and towards those companies that contribute to solutions. Schroders has been named as one of the world’s most influential financial companies making a meaningful contribution to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Source: World Benchmarking Alliance). Furthermore, we have been awarded A+ for the last six consecutive years by the UNPRI assessment. By partnering with us, you are able to make a real difference. We benefit from the resources of the award-winning sustainability team of dedicated ESG specialists, who coordinate our engagement, voting and sector research. Using our influence for good is a priority for us. We recognise that companies play a critical role in society and are exposed to, and can influence, social and environmental change. We report on all engagement activities within our quarterly sustainability reports, including more detailed reports for clients. We also disclose our voting activity publicly, including details of votes against management. The reports are publicly available on our website. Furthermore, we look to expand our influence across the investment industry and to engage with all asset managers in whose funds we invest. We have provided a snapshot of our activities and capabilities in this area. Dialshifter (Corporate)Our organisation is helping to support the Paris Climate Agreement and the Race to Net Zero by…
|
||||||||