abrdn Global Sustainable Equity Fund

SRI Style:

Ethical Style

SDR Labelling:

Sustainability Focus label

Product:

OEIC

Fund Region:

Global

Fund Asset Type:

Equity

Launch Date:

01/05/1999

Last Amended:

Oct 2022

Dialshifter ():

Fund/Portfolio Size:

£143.99m

(as at: 31/12/2024)

Total Screened Themed SRI Assets:

£29131.00m

(as at: 30/06/2022)

Total Responsible Ownership Assets:

£29131.00m

(as at: 30/06/2022)

Total Assets Under Management:

£508407.00m

(as at: 30/06/2022)

ISIN:

GB0006833932, GB0006833825, GB0006833718, GB0006833601

Sustainable, Responsible
&/or ESG Overview:

Awaiting update from fund manager (December 2024)

 

The Fund’s objective is to generate growth over the long term by investing in global equities which meet its ethical screening criteria. The process for the abrdn Global Sustainable and Responsible Investment Equity Fund is designed to ensure that only companies passing the twin hurdles of fundamental strength and acceptable ethical, social and environmental behaviour are eligible for investment.

 

Primary fund last amended:

Oct 2022

Information directly from fund manager.

Fund Filters

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.

Climate Change & Energy
Paris aligned strategy

Aims to ensure holdings will reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in line with targets set at COP21 in Paris. The core aim is to help achieve ‘net zero emissions by 2050’ and a ‘maximum global temperature increase of +1.5 to +2 degrees above preindustrial levels’. Strategies and opinions vary.

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.

Favours companies with strong social policies

Aims to invest in assets with high social values - this may include strong human rights, labour standards and equal opportunities or safety related practices.

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.

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.

Human Rights
Human rights policy

Has policies relating to human rights issues. Typically require companies to demonstrate higher standards, although some managers work to encourage improvements. Investee companies are often judged against internationally agreed norms or standards. Strategies vary.

Oppressive regimes (not free or democratic) exclusion policy

Has policies that exclude companies or other assets which operate in, or are owned by regimes which are not democratic, or where people may be oppressed. May use eg. Freedom House research. Strategies vary.

Governance & Management
UN sanctions exclusion

Exclude companies that are subject to United Nations sanctions. See eg https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/en/content/un-sc-consolidated-list

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.

Asset Size
Invests in small, mid & large cap companies / assets

Invests in a combination of small, medium and larger (potentially multinational) companies / assets.

How The Fund/Portfolio Works
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.

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
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).

Available via an ISA (OEIC only)

Available via a tax efficient ISA product wrapper.

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 Information

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

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 company wide)

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.

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

Find fund / asset 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.)

Responsible ownership / ESG a key differentiator (AFM company wide)

Find fund / asset managers that consider responsible ownership and ESG to be a key differentiator for their business.

Senior management KPIs include environmental goals (AFM company wide)

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

SDG aligned aims / objectives (AFM company wide)

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 funds (AFM company wide)

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.

Integrates ESG factors into all / most (AFM) fund research

Find fund / asset management companies that consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues when deciding whether or not to invest in a company for all / almost all of their funds and other assets. This is increasingly seen as part of sound risk management.

Diversity, equality & inclusion engagement policy (AFM company wide)

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'.

UKSIF member

Find fund / asset management companies that are members of UKSIF - the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance association

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 / 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.

Accreditations
UK Stewardship Code signatory (AFM company wide)

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 company wide)

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.

Company Wide Exclusions
Controversial weapons avoidance policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund / asset management companies (not funds) that avoid investment in 'controversial weapons' across all of their funds and other investment vehicles.

Tobacco avoidance policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund / asset management companies that avoid investment in tobacco (manufacturing) companies across all their assets.

Climate & Net Zero Transition
Voting policy includes net zero targets (AFM company wide)

Fund / asset manager AGM / EGM voting strategy has processes in place that mean they will normally be expected to vote in a way that will encourage the transition to net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Net Zero - have set a Net Zero target date (AFM company wide)

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 company wide)

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.

Carbon offsetting - offset carbon as part of net zero plan (AFM company wide)

This fund / asset management company plans to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (CO2e) emissions with the help of a scheme that will lock away an amount of carbon that is equivalent to the company’s own emissions – so that the end result is ‘net zero’. Calculations and scope vary.

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

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

Publish full voting record (AFM company wide)

Fund / asset 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.

Sustainability transition plan publicly available (AFM company wide)

This fund / asset management company has published a plan that explains how they are to become a sustainable business - without significant negative environmental or social impacts.

Paris Alignment plan publicly available (AFM company wide)

This fund / asset management company has published a plan that explains how they will align to the climate change commitments made at the Paris Climate Talks, COP21.

Net Zero transition plan publicly available (AFM company wide)

This fund / asset management company has published a plan that explains how they are going to achieve net zero greenhouse gas / CO2e emissions.

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:

Assessment criteria

For companies to pass the first hurdle, regional analysts identify stocks with quality management and superior earnings potential. To do this, they use their own research, direct company contacts, and valuation expectations from a variety of outside research sources.

 

Next, abrdn's experienced Responsible Investing team screens the companies against a number of ethical, environmental and social criteria. The team uses a list of well-researched and clearly defined criteria covering the three broad areas of ethical, environmental and social policies and practices when deciding whether to pass or fail each company.

 

The screening process uses negative exclusionary screening criteria and is also supported by abrdn's strong engagement approach to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. With negative screening, we examine companies to see if they are or have been involved in what we determine to be “areas of concern” over a defined historical period. Trends in adverse behaviour can suggest longer-term problems for an organisation. Companies failing our screening criteria are excluded from investment.

 

Negative screening

The fund applies negative criteria to avoid investing in companies involved in certain industries and activities that our customers are concerned with. We will avoid investment in companies involved in the activities listed below:

 

  • Adult entertainment: companies which derive over 5% of their gross annual revenue from the production, transmission or sale of pornographic materials.
  • Alcohol production: companies which derive over 10% of their gross annual revenue from the production and/or sale of alcoholic beverages.
  • Animal testing: companies that test or commission tests of their products on animals.
  • Poor business practices: companies with evidence of poor business practices that cause harm to society or their employees.
  • Cluster munitions/anti-personnel landmines: captured by abrdn’s Controversial Weapons policy
  • Poor environmental practices: companies with evidence of poor environmental practices that cause harm to society or their employees.
  • Gambling: companies which derive more than 10% of their gross annual revenue from betting or gambling operations and/or from supplying gambling equipment.
  • Poor human rights record: companies that
    • operate in any country with a poor record of human rights and fail to have mechanisms in place to uphold human rights
    • face continued accusations of human rights abuses, no matter where they operate
    • have been involved in controversial projects that have been linked to human rights abuses
    • are deemed to be supporting controversial regimes.

Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies:

Investments Vector Sustainability Group:

  • Amanda Young - Chief Sustainability Officer (8 years at Firm, 25 years in Industry)
  • Eva Cairns - Head of Sustainability Insights & Climate Strategy (11 years at Firm, 16 years in Industry)
  • Anna Moss - Senior Sustainability Analyst (12 years at Firm, 12 years in Industry)
  • Ann Meoni - Senior Sustainability Analyst (8 years at Firm, 8 years in Industry)
  • Elizabeth (Meyer) Chiweshenga - Senior Sustainability Analyst (9 years at Firm, 9 years in Industry)
  • Nick Gaskell - Sustainability Analyst (Less than a year at firm, 7 years in Industry)
  • Ziggy You - Sustainability Analyst (3 years at Firm, 3 years in Industry)
  • Aidan Maloney - Graduate Business Analyst (Less than a year at Firm, less than a year in Industry)
  • Dan Grandage - Head of Sustainable Investments (8 years at firm, 8 years in Industry)
  • Eilidh Duncan - Senior Sustainability Manager (2 years at firm, 4 years in Industry)
  • Katy Grant - Senior Sustainability Manager (10 years at Firm, 10 years in Industry)
  • Rachel Rotheram - Sustainability Analyst (4 years at firm, 4 years in Industry)
  • Yolanda Yang - ESG BI Analyst (Less than a year at firm, 1 year in Industry)
  • Maka Indorbaeva - Graduate Business Analyst (Less than a year at Firm, less than a year in Industry)
  • Andrew Mason - Head of Active Ownership (10 years at firm, 17 years in Industry)
  • Douglas Wilson - Senior Sustainability Manager (22 years at firm, 25 years in Industry)
  • Joanna Sulc - Senior Sustainability Manager (7 years at Firm, 20 years in Industry)
  • Kathleen Dewandeleer - Senior Sustainability Manager (3 years at firm, 30 years in Industry)
  • Nick Duncan - Senior Sustainability Manager (7 years at Firm, 25 years in Industry)
  • Claire Leighton - Sustainability Manager (12 years at Firm, 12 years in Industry)
  • Stuart Riddick - Sustainability Manager (3 years at Firm, 3 years in Industry)
  • Katie Mint - Sustainability Support (2 years at Firm, 2 years in Industry)
  • Danielle Welsh-Rose - Head of Sustainability Investment Specialists & APAC Sustainability (2 years at Firm, 20 years in Industry)
  • Jamie Govan - Sustainability Director (14 years at Firm, 14 years in Industry)
  • Neil Murdoch - Senior Sustainability Specialist (6 years at Firm, 16 years in Industry)
  • Nicola Skrastin - Sustainability Specialist (5 years at Firm, 5 years in Industry)
  • Qianlin Li - Sustainability Specialist (Less than a year at Firm, 10 years in Industry)
  • Sylvain Augoyard - Sustainability Manager - APAC (Less than a year at Firm, 13 years in Industry)
  • Daniel Bowie-MacDonald - Sustainability Investment Specialist (9 years at Firm, 10 years in Industry)
  • Sheela Veerappan - Sustainability Investment Specialist - APAC (Less than a year at Firm, 18 years in Industry)
  • Fionna Ross -Sustainability Investment Specialist & Head of Sustainability Institute - Americas (14 years at Firm, 14 years in Industry)
  • Toby Grubb - Sustainability Support (1 year at Firm, 1 year in Industry)

 

Equity:

  • Sarah Norris - Head of ESG - Equities (11 years at Firm, 12 years in Industry)
  • David Smith - Senior Investment Director (10 years at Firm, 16 years in Industry)
  • Jerry Goh - Investment Manager (7 years at Firm, 7 years in Industry)
  • Daniel Ng - Investment Manager (5 years at Firm, 5 years in Industry)
  • Andrew Risk - UK Equity ESG Analyst (Less than a year at Firm, 9 years in Industry)
  • Fraser Harle - Investment Analyst (6 years at Firm, 7 years in Industry)
  • Tzoulianna Leventi - ESG Analyst and Investment Analyst (4 years at Firm, 4 years in Industry)
  • Jonny Salvage - ESG Analyst - European Equities (Less than a year at Firm, 4 years in Industry)

 

Multi-Asset:

  • Craig MacKenzie - Head of SAA Research (11 years at Firm, 25 years in Industry)
  • Catie Wearmouth - ESG Investment Director – Multi Asset Solutions (1 year at Firm, 23 years in Industry)
  • Fiona Ritchie - ESG Investment Manager (10 years at Firm, 35 years in Industry)

 

Fixed Income:

  • Marianne Zangerl - Head of ESG Fixed Income (7 years at Firm, 13 years in Industry)
  • Nicholas Kordowski - Head of Non-Financials Research (12 years at Firm, 18 years in Industry)
  • Andrew Fraser - Head of Financials Research (13 years at Firm, 31 years in Industry)
  • George Westervelt - Head of US HY Research (13 years at Firm, 23 years in Industry)
  • Julien Martin - Head of Euro HY Research (9 years at Firm, 17 years in Industry)
    Paul Lukaszewski - Head of Asian Corporate Debt & Emerging Market Credit Research (11 years at Firm, 21 years in Industry)
  • Matthew Kence - Investment Director (12 years at Firm, 19 years in Industry)
  • Josef Helmes - Investment Director (10 years at Firm, 21 years in Industry)
  • Mark Munro - Investment Director (9 years at Firm, 16 years in Industry)
  • Samuel Bevan - Investment Manager (10 years at Firm, 10 years in Industry)
  • Henry Loh - Investment Manager (8 years at Firm, 8 years in Industry)
  • Emilia Matei - Investment Analyst (7 years at Firm, 7 years in Industry)
  • Kate McGrath - ESG Analyst - Fixed Income (3 years at Firm, 3 years in Industry)
  • Scott McQuiston - ESG Analyst - Fixed Income (2 years at Firm, 2 years in Industry)
  • Khashayar Lotfizadeh - Global Head of Quantitative Analytics (8 years at Firm, 8 years in Industry)
  • Samuel Grantham - Investment Director (9 years at Firm, 9 years in Industry)
  • Thomas Leys - Investment Director (9 years at Firm, 10 years in Industry)
  • Jonathan Mondillo - Head of Municipals (4 years at Firm, 17 years in Industry)
  • Nicole Lim - Investment Analyst (1 year at Firm, 5 years in Industry)
  • Curt Starer - Investment Director (15 years at Firm, 22 years in Industry)
  • Janaka Nanayakkara - Investment Director (7 years at Firm, 15 years in Industry)
  • Albane Poulin - Head of European Private Placements (7 years at Firm, 10 years in Industry)
  • Eliza Uphadya - Lending Manager (6 years at Firm 6 years in Industry)

 

SDR Labelling:

Sustainability Focus label

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

abrdn Global Sustainable Equity Fund

Ethical Style Sustainability Focus label OEIC Global Equity 01/05/1999 Oct 2022

Fund/Portfolio Size: £143.99m

(as at: 31/12/2024)

Total Screened Themed SRI Assets: £29131.00m

(as at: 30/06/2022)

Total Responsible Ownership Assets: £29131.00m

(as at: 30/06/2022)

Total Assets Under Management: £508407.00m

(as at: 30/06/2022)

ISIN: GB0006833932, GB0006833825, GB0006833718, GB0006833601

Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Overview

Awaiting update from fund manager (December 2024)

 

The Fund’s objective is to generate growth over the long term by investing in global equities which meet its ethical screening criteria. The process for the abrdn Global Sustainable and Responsible Investment Equity Fund is designed to ensure that only companies passing the twin hurdles of fundamental strength and acceptable ethical, social and environmental behaviour are eligible for investment.

 

Primary fund last amended: Oct 2022

Information received directly from Fund Manager

Please select what you would like to read:

Fund Filters

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.

Climate Change & Energy
Paris aligned strategy

Aims to ensure holdings will reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in line with targets set at COP21 in Paris. The core aim is to help achieve ‘net zero emissions by 2050’ and a ‘maximum global temperature increase of +1.5 to +2 degrees above preindustrial levels’. Strategies and opinions vary.

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.

Favours companies with strong social policies

Aims to invest in assets with high social values - this may include strong human rights, labour standards and equal opportunities or safety related practices.

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.

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.

Human Rights
Human rights policy

Has policies relating to human rights issues. Typically require companies to demonstrate higher standards, although some managers work to encourage improvements. Investee companies are often judged against internationally agreed norms or standards. Strategies vary.

Oppressive regimes (not free or democratic) exclusion policy

Has policies that exclude companies or other assets which operate in, or are owned by regimes which are not democratic, or where people may be oppressed. May use eg. Freedom House research. Strategies vary.

Governance & Management
UN sanctions exclusion

Exclude companies that are subject to United Nations sanctions. See eg https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/en/content/un-sc-consolidated-list

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.

Asset Size
Invests in small, mid & large cap companies / assets

Invests in a combination of small, medium and larger (potentially multinational) companies / assets.

How The Fund/Portfolio Works
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.

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
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).

Available via an ISA (OEIC only)

Available via a tax efficient ISA product wrapper.

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 Information

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

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 company wide)

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.

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

Find fund / asset 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.)

Responsible ownership / ESG a key differentiator (AFM company wide)

Find fund / asset managers that consider responsible ownership and ESG to be a key differentiator for their business.

Senior management KPIs include environmental goals (AFM company wide)

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

SDG aligned aims / objectives (AFM company wide)

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 funds (AFM company wide)

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.

Integrates ESG factors into all / most (AFM) fund research

Find fund / asset management companies that consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues when deciding whether or not to invest in a company for all / almost all of their funds and other assets. This is increasingly seen as part of sound risk management.

Diversity, equality & inclusion engagement policy (AFM company wide)

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'.

UKSIF member

Find fund / asset management companies that are members of UKSIF - the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance association

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 / 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.

Accreditations
UK Stewardship Code signatory (AFM company wide)

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 company wide)

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.

Company Wide Exclusions
Controversial weapons avoidance policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund / asset management companies (not funds) that avoid investment in 'controversial weapons' across all of their funds and other investment vehicles.

Tobacco avoidance policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund / asset management companies that avoid investment in tobacco (manufacturing) companies across all their assets.

Climate & Net Zero Transition
Voting policy includes net zero targets (AFM company wide)

Fund / asset manager AGM / EGM voting strategy has processes in place that mean they will normally be expected to vote in a way that will encourage the transition to net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Net Zero - have set a Net Zero target date (AFM company wide)

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 company wide)

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.

Carbon offsetting - offset carbon as part of net zero plan (AFM company wide)

This fund / asset management company plans to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (CO2e) emissions with the help of a scheme that will lock away an amount of carbon that is equivalent to the company’s own emissions – so that the end result is ‘net zero’. Calculations and scope vary.

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

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

Publish full voting record (AFM company wide)

Fund / asset 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.

Sustainability transition plan publicly available (AFM company wide)

This fund / asset management company has published a plan that explains how they are to become a sustainable business - without significant negative environmental or social impacts.

Paris Alignment plan publicly available (AFM company wide)

This fund / asset management company has published a plan that explains how they will align to the climate change commitments made at the Paris Climate Talks, COP21.

Net Zero transition plan publicly available (AFM company wide)

This fund / asset management company has published a plan that explains how they are going to achieve net zero greenhouse gas / CO2e emissions.

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:

Assessment criteria

For companies to pass the first hurdle, regional analysts identify stocks with quality management and superior earnings potential. To do this, they use their own research, direct company contacts, and valuation expectations from a variety of outside research sources.

 

Next, abrdn's experienced Responsible Investing team screens the companies against a number of ethical, environmental and social criteria. The team uses a list of well-researched and clearly defined criteria covering the three broad areas of ethical, environmental and social policies and practices when deciding whether to pass or fail each company.

 

The screening process uses negative exclusionary screening criteria and is also supported by abrdn's strong engagement approach to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. With negative screening, we examine companies to see if they are or have been involved in what we determine to be “areas of concern” over a defined historical period. Trends in adverse behaviour can suggest longer-term problems for an organisation. Companies failing our screening criteria are excluded from investment.

 

Negative screening

The fund applies negative criteria to avoid investing in companies involved in certain industries and activities that our customers are concerned with. We will avoid investment in companies involved in the activities listed below:

 

  • Adult entertainment: companies which derive over 5% of their gross annual revenue from the production, transmission or sale of pornographic materials.
  • Alcohol production: companies which derive over 10% of their gross annual revenue from the production and/or sale of alcoholic beverages.
  • Animal testing: companies that test or commission tests of their products on animals.
  • Poor business practices: companies with evidence of poor business practices that cause harm to society or their employees.
  • Cluster munitions/anti-personnel landmines: captured by abrdn’s Controversial Weapons policy
  • Poor environmental practices: companies with evidence of poor environmental practices that cause harm to society or their employees.
  • Gambling: companies which derive more than 10% of their gross annual revenue from betting or gambling operations and/or from supplying gambling equipment.
  • Poor human rights record: companies that
    • operate in any country with a poor record of human rights and fail to have mechanisms in place to uphold human rights
    • face continued accusations of human rights abuses, no matter where they operate
    • have been involved in controversial projects that have been linked to human rights abuses
    • are deemed to be supporting controversial regimes.

Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies:

Investments Vector Sustainability Group:

  • Amanda Young - Chief Sustainability Officer (8 years at Firm, 25 years in Industry)
  • Eva Cairns - Head of Sustainability Insights & Climate Strategy (11 years at Firm, 16 years in Industry)
  • Anna Moss - Senior Sustainability Analyst (12 years at Firm, 12 years in Industry)
  • Ann Meoni - Senior Sustainability Analyst (8 years at Firm, 8 years in Industry)
  • Elizabeth (Meyer) Chiweshenga - Senior Sustainability Analyst (9 years at Firm, 9 years in Industry)
  • Nick Gaskell - Sustainability Analyst (Less than a year at firm, 7 years in Industry)
  • Ziggy You - Sustainability Analyst (3 years at Firm, 3 years in Industry)
  • Aidan Maloney - Graduate Business Analyst (Less than a year at Firm, less than a year in Industry)
  • Dan Grandage - Head of Sustainable Investments (8 years at firm, 8 years in Industry)
  • Eilidh Duncan - Senior Sustainability Manager (2 years at firm, 4 years in Industry)
  • Katy Grant - Senior Sustainability Manager (10 years at Firm, 10 years in Industry)
  • Rachel Rotheram - Sustainability Analyst (4 years at firm, 4 years in Industry)
  • Yolanda Yang - ESG BI Analyst (Less than a year at firm, 1 year in Industry)
  • Maka Indorbaeva - Graduate Business Analyst (Less than a year at Firm, less than a year in Industry)
  • Andrew Mason - Head of Active Ownership (10 years at firm, 17 years in Industry)
  • Douglas Wilson - Senior Sustainability Manager (22 years at firm, 25 years in Industry)
  • Joanna Sulc - Senior Sustainability Manager (7 years at Firm, 20 years in Industry)
  • Kathleen Dewandeleer - Senior Sustainability Manager (3 years at firm, 30 years in Industry)
  • Nick Duncan - Senior Sustainability Manager (7 years at Firm, 25 years in Industry)
  • Claire Leighton - Sustainability Manager (12 years at Firm, 12 years in Industry)
  • Stuart Riddick - Sustainability Manager (3 years at Firm, 3 years in Industry)
  • Katie Mint - Sustainability Support (2 years at Firm, 2 years in Industry)
  • Danielle Welsh-Rose - Head of Sustainability Investment Specialists & APAC Sustainability (2 years at Firm, 20 years in Industry)
  • Jamie Govan - Sustainability Director (14 years at Firm, 14 years in Industry)
  • Neil Murdoch - Senior Sustainability Specialist (6 years at Firm, 16 years in Industry)
  • Nicola Skrastin - Sustainability Specialist (5 years at Firm, 5 years in Industry)
  • Qianlin Li - Sustainability Specialist (Less than a year at Firm, 10 years in Industry)
  • Sylvain Augoyard - Sustainability Manager - APAC (Less than a year at Firm, 13 years in Industry)
  • Daniel Bowie-MacDonald - Sustainability Investment Specialist (9 years at Firm, 10 years in Industry)
  • Sheela Veerappan - Sustainability Investment Specialist - APAC (Less than a year at Firm, 18 years in Industry)
  • Fionna Ross -Sustainability Investment Specialist & Head of Sustainability Institute - Americas (14 years at Firm, 14 years in Industry)
  • Toby Grubb - Sustainability Support (1 year at Firm, 1 year in Industry)

 

Equity:

  • Sarah Norris - Head of ESG - Equities (11 years at Firm, 12 years in Industry)
  • David Smith - Senior Investment Director (10 years at Firm, 16 years in Industry)
  • Jerry Goh - Investment Manager (7 years at Firm, 7 years in Industry)
  • Daniel Ng - Investment Manager (5 years at Firm, 5 years in Industry)
  • Andrew Risk - UK Equity ESG Analyst (Less than a year at Firm, 9 years in Industry)
  • Fraser Harle - Investment Analyst (6 years at Firm, 7 years in Industry)
  • Tzoulianna Leventi - ESG Analyst and Investment Analyst (4 years at Firm, 4 years in Industry)
  • Jonny Salvage - ESG Analyst - European Equities (Less than a year at Firm, 4 years in Industry)

 

Multi-Asset:

  • Craig MacKenzie - Head of SAA Research (11 years at Firm, 25 years in Industry)
  • Catie Wearmouth - ESG Investment Director – Multi Asset Solutions (1 year at Firm, 23 years in Industry)
  • Fiona Ritchie - ESG Investment Manager (10 years at Firm, 35 years in Industry)

 

Fixed Income:

  • Marianne Zangerl - Head of ESG Fixed Income (7 years at Firm, 13 years in Industry)
  • Nicholas Kordowski - Head of Non-Financials Research (12 years at Firm, 18 years in Industry)
  • Andrew Fraser - Head of Financials Research (13 years at Firm, 31 years in Industry)
  • George Westervelt - Head of US HY Research (13 years at Firm, 23 years in Industry)
  • Julien Martin - Head of Euro HY Research (9 years at Firm, 17 years in Industry)
    Paul Lukaszewski - Head of Asian Corporate Debt & Emerging Market Credit Research (11 years at Firm, 21 years in Industry)
  • Matthew Kence - Investment Director (12 years at Firm, 19 years in Industry)
  • Josef Helmes - Investment Director (10 years at Firm, 21 years in Industry)
  • Mark Munro - Investment Director (9 years at Firm, 16 years in Industry)
  • Samuel Bevan - Investment Manager (10 years at Firm, 10 years in Industry)
  • Henry Loh - Investment Manager (8 years at Firm, 8 years in Industry)
  • Emilia Matei - Investment Analyst (7 years at Firm, 7 years in Industry)
  • Kate McGrath - ESG Analyst - Fixed Income (3 years at Firm, 3 years in Industry)
  • Scott McQuiston - ESG Analyst - Fixed Income (2 years at Firm, 2 years in Industry)
  • Khashayar Lotfizadeh - Global Head of Quantitative Analytics (8 years at Firm, 8 years in Industry)
  • Samuel Grantham - Investment Director (9 years at Firm, 9 years in Industry)
  • Thomas Leys - Investment Director (9 years at Firm, 10 years in Industry)
  • Jonathan Mondillo - Head of Municipals (4 years at Firm, 17 years in Industry)
  • Nicole Lim - Investment Analyst (1 year at Firm, 5 years in Industry)
  • Curt Starer - Investment Director (15 years at Firm, 22 years in Industry)
  • Janaka Nanayakkara - Investment Director (7 years at Firm, 15 years in Industry)
  • Albane Poulin - Head of European Private Placements (7 years at Firm, 10 years in Industry)
  • Eliza Uphadya - Lending Manager (6 years at Firm 6 years in Industry)

 

Dialshifter (Corporate)

Our organisation is helping to support the Paris Climate Agreement and the Race to Net Zero by…

 abrdn strongly supports the objectives of the Paris Agreement. We are committed to playing a constructive role in the decarbonisation of the global economy and serving the long-term interests of our clients. We have developed a business-wide approach to support the goals of the Paris Agreement based on five principles:

  • Public policy advocacy
  • Rigorous climate scenario analysis
  • Responsible stewardship
  • abrdn net zero real estate commitment
  • Reporting: tracking carbon and climate solutions

Further information on these principles and our approach to Paris alignment is available here

SDR Labelling:

Sustainability Focus label