Targeted Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) engagement with issuers is an important part of our investment approach as active investors and responsible stewards of our clients’ assets.
Consistent with client expectations, our primary driver for engagement is to support long-term value creation by mitigating risk, capitalising on opportunities linked to ESG factors, and reducing any material negative impact that our investment decisions could have on these factors. We believe that, by engaging in this way, we can play a part in building a more sustainable and resilient global economy by encouraging issuers to improve their ESG practices. This can also help drive positive impacts for the environment and society that are in line with the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Where appropriate, we seek to exercise voting rights on our clients’ behalf at all shareholder meetings associated with the holdings of the investment mandates we manage.
This provides the opportunity to express our preferences acting for our clients on relevant aspects of an issuer’s business and to promote good practice, or express our concerns identified through research and engagement, including when escalation becomes necessary.