Board members – we provide our board with half-year and full-year reports updating them on the progress, new initiatives and results of our ESG and proxy voting practices.
Chief Investment Officer – our CIO has oversight over our proxy voting policies and high impact ESG initiatives and is regularly updated accordingly.
Heads of Research – our Global Head of Research has oversight and final approval over our ESG research vendor requirements. Our heads of research have input into the implementation of external ESG research in to our research management systems.
Portfolio Managers - Our portfolio managers are active in analysing the potential effects of ESG factors when making investment decisions.
Analysts - The cornerstone of our investment approach is bottom-up research. As well as studying financial results, our portfolio managers and analysts are dedicated to carrying out additional qualitative analysis of potential investments. They visit companies in person, examining everything that could have an effect on business, from the shop floor to the boardroom. Customers and suppliers also come in for scrutiny. In this way we can develop a 360-degree view of every company in which we invest and ESG factors are regularly considered in this research process.
ESG Team - Although our analysts have overall responsibility for analysing the environmental, social and governance performance of the companies and buildings in which we invest, we also have dedicated global ESG team. These individuals work closely with the business and investment management teams globally across all asset classes and coordinate ESG training for these teams (including analysts, portfolio managers, and investment directors, directors of research, the library team, as well as the institutional, sales and marketing teams). The specialists ensure that our investment team have direct access to ESG research and ratings, reports on our progress with ESG and engages directly with our investee companies on ESG risks and opportunities.
Head of Corporate Finance – has general oversight over our responsible investment objectives and ESG Policy, and is involved in the decision-making process for ESG implementation.