Welcome to the second edition of STEWARDSHIP MATTERS – our regular publication where our investment teams in Edinburgh, Singapore and Melbourne share their sectoral and regional Stewardship and ESG insights, updates on the ongoing development of our ESG toolkit, and outcomes of the extensive active ownership activities that we are undertaking on behalf of clients.
This edition provides a review of Stewardship and ESG activity over the second half of 2020, and specifically focuses on a key topic of interest highlighted by our clients - how we are working towards mapping corporate activities and portfolios against the targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
Key Highlights
- Despite the physical barriers imposed by the global lockdowns, our investment teams have continued to participate in extensive engagement and voting activities in the second half of 2020, many of which have had an SDG focus.
- Our ongoing work on SDG mapping has provided us with a useful lens through which to analyse sustainability, and we provide detail on some of the SDG initiatives developed in our effort to achieve best-in-class ESG outcomes at the companies we invest in.
- Using the SDGs as a lens, our investment teams also explore the potential risks and opportunities for our investee companies arising from themes such as human rights, cyber security, the rising middle class, fiduciary responsibility and sustainability disclosures.
- Finally, we touch on the key themes coming out of Australia’s COVID-impacted proxy season, the US inauguration and the new EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
Looking forward, the start of 2021 is likely to see some significant changes in the ESG landscape, and if anything, bring it even more into mainstream focus. Within this backdrop, and reflecting the increasing focus on the SDGs by our clients, our work in SDG mapping will continue to evolve. In particular we are working on how we can regularly report on the extent to which companies and portfolios overall are aligned to the goals. We look forward to working closely with clients in this space.
Our investment teams have been looking carefully at how we map products and services of the companies we invest in against the SDGS.
Regulatory information and risk warnings
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Please note the information within this report has been produced internally using unaudited data and has not been independently verified. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy, no guarantee can be given.
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The analysis of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)factors forms an important part of the investment processand helps inform investment decisions. The strategy/ies donot necessarily target particular sustainability outcomes.