The Code establishes a high standard of stewardship for asset managers, asset owners and service providers when investing money on behalf of UK savers and pensioners.

While the focus of the Code, when first published in 2010, was on improving the quality and quantity of engagement between investors and companies, the updated 2020 code has gone further, to also target the integration of Environmental, Social and Governance matters into the investment approach and decision-making process.

We are pleased to increase transparency in our commitment to stewardship and sustainability through our report, in which we have demonstrated (and look to continue to demonstrate) our commitment to responsible investment in the allocation and management of capital. We run our funds and monitor/assess companies with a long-term time horizon and always with the best interests of our clients at the heart of our investment decisions.

An important element of stewardship and keeping abreast with ESG matters is through our active engagement with existing or potential investee companies. This is crucial to our investment approach, with the purpose of safeguarding and increasing value for our clients.

We believe the importance of sustainability has never been more prominent and while we have always considered that investing in companies with sustainable business practices and run by people with integrity as central to our approach, we are happy to be formally embedding this in our equity, fixed income and multi-asset class funds.

Link to FRC’s successful list of signatories: https://www.frc.org.uk/news/september-2021/frc-lists-successful-signatories-to-the-uk-steward