Stewardship
Stewardship
Stewardship is a vital component of our investment process, serving as an important mechanism for mitigating risk and enhancing the value of the companies in which we invest.
We carry out our stewardship activities at three levels:
- Firmwide stewardship: Manages risks and opportunities across our client portfolios through issuer engagement and proxy voting.
- Fund-driven stewardship: Supports sustainability objectives where appropriate for selected client portfolios in our sustainable investment product range.
- System stewardship: Addresses market-wide and system risks impacting our client portfolios using a range of different approaches; it complements issuer stewardship at the firm and fund levels.
How can stewardship add value?
 |
Driving growthHolding company boards accountable for delivering sustainable growth for shareholders. |
Managing risksEncouraging companies to proactively address both current and emerging risks to protect investor value. |
 |
 |
Improving transparency and disclosureSupporting better investment decisions and reducing uncertainty for investors, potentially leading to lower costs of capital. Enhanced disclosure also helps companies gain insights into their businesses, leading to improvements in growth and risk management. |
Promoting strong governanceActing in our clients’ interests to encourage high standards of behaviour in the markets where companies operate. |
 |
 |
Encouraging sustainable practicesPromoting responsible social and environmental practices to manage risks, build trust with stakeholders, and safeguard companies’ licenses to operate. |
 |
 |
|
| Stewardship Policy | Global Voting Guidelines | |
| We seek to exercise responsible stewardship to protect and enhance value for clients. | Exercising our voting rights is a core part of our stewardship activity. |
For our voting disclosure, please click here.
|
Focus on stewardship themes
 |
2 |
 |
 |
4 | Human Rights
 |
 |
 |
For our voting disclosure, please click here.
Types of engagement
Proactive engagement
Led by portfolio managers, analysts and the stewardship team, proactive engagement is conducted following a priority list created to ensure that we maximise the potential positive impact of our engagement efforts.
Reactive engagement
When a controversy arises, we engage with the company to address our concern. This can include discussing a remediation plan and controversy management depending on the nature and severity of the issue.
Collaborative engagement
We signed up to a number of collaborative initiatives that tackles specific sustainability issues, such as FAIRR initiative that focuses on the food sector and PRI Advance on human rights. Collaboration helps amplify our impact as a minority investor (particularly with companies that are otherwise challenging to engage with) with the ultimate goal to enhance value for our investors.
Policy Engagement
Where possible, we engage in conversations with regulators or governmental bodies directly or via membership in industry or green finance associations to provide insights in the development of ESG related framework or guidelines.
Our core themes of engagement
The thematic priorities serve as guidance to the investment function, and in setting engagement objectives for issuers in our portfolios.
Climate change |
Human rights |
Biodiversity and nature |
Inclusive growth and shared prosperity |
Corporate Governance |
Trusted technology and data |
Diversity, equity and inclusion |
Read more
Today, we and many of our customers contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. We have a strategy to reduce our own emissions and to develop solutions to help our clients invest sustainably.