We are pleased to release our 2021 UK Stewardship Code Report which provides a detailed view into Invesco’s approach to stewardship in the UK and how our policy and procedures aim to meet the requirements of the FRC’s UK Stewardship Code (the code). Building on last year’s report, our 2021 report provides an overview of our stewardship practices in 2021.
According to the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), stewardship is the responsible allocation, management, and oversight of capital to create long-term value for clients and beneficiaries leading to sustainable benefits for the economy, the environment, and society.1 As founding signatories and supporters of the FRC’s Stewardship Code since 2010, Invesco has supported the development of good stewardship practices in the UK and beyond for many years.
Key highlights of our 2021 report:
- In 2021, we made significant strides towards our aspiration towards Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) integration across all investment strategies across the firm by 2023. As of 31st December 2021, investment teams responsible for managing approximately 85% of Invesco’s Assets Under Management have attained the ESG integration level defined as minimal but systematic integration.
- In 2021, we conducted over 3,000 engagements, an increase of approximately 50% over the prior year.
- In 2021, we voted proxies for 9,057 companies in 73 markets, executing our voting intentions on over 116,000 resolutions at 12,093 shareholder meetings. This represents execution of votes on more than 98% of eligible meetings.
- In 2021, we responded to market-wide risks and promoted a well-functioning financial system by working with other stakeholders, engaging with regulators and policymakers globally, and participating in relevant industry initiatives. We detail specific examples of our actions taken to respond to climate-related risks and geopolitical risks, ensure financial market integrity and resilience, and keep apace with the digitalisation of financial markets.
- We updated our Global Proxy Voting Policy and published our good governance principles, outlining our expectations of what good governance looks like across six key themes. We expanded our expectations on board diversity, board independence and board leadership, board responsiveness, and ESG risk oversight and how we evaluate environmental and social (E&S) shareholder resolutions, to name a few.
- We invested in our resources to support our stewardship practices. For example, our Global ESG team increased from 13 members to a team of 22 full-time professionals. We also enhanced our ESG data and analytics capabilities, by building out and updating our proprietary tools – ESGintel, FocusIntel, PROXYintel, and ESGCentral.