Responsible investment

By investing responsibly we can take account of environmental, social and governance issues that may impact long-term investment returns, whilst at the same time reducing our own impact on the environment.

Key stats

$20 billion ESG funds inflows in 2019 – four times higher than previous year
$90 trillion in assets now managed by Principles for Responsible Investment signatories
Paris Climate Agreement - global temperature rises must be kept well below 2 degrees Celsius to avoid catastrophic consequences

Responsible investment commitments

Customers

Commitment

Embed responsible investment principles across our business.

Key Metric

PRI Strategy & Governance rating.

Progress

In 2020 we continued our work to integrate responsible investment principles as standard into our advice and investment management processes, as well as enhancing ESG related disclosures.

A significant proportion of the assets we manage are invested in third-party funds. Therefore, a vital component of our approach to ESG integration is understanding how external fund managers incorporate ESG into their investment process. In 2020, our fund research team provided enhanced training for analysts and improved ESG assessment in the fund manager appointment and monitoring process.

We are a signatory of the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (“PRI”) and achieved an ‘A’ rating for our responsible investment strategy and governance in the PRI’s 2020 annual assessment.

Customers

Commitment

Exercise active stewardship of customers’ assets.

Key Metric

Number of company meetings in which we voted.

Progress

We continued and enhanced our stewardship activity through proxy voting and pro-active engagement with company management, using our influence as shareholders in companies on topics such as executive remuneration and climate change in order to protect and enhance long-term returns for our customers.

In 2020, Quilter Cheviot voted at 348 company meetings, double that the previous year. The significant increase was a result of an expanded voting universe, extended to include all holdings in which we hold more than £2 million or 0.2% of the company.

Environment

Commitment

Reduce the environmental intensity of our activities.

Key Metric

Tonnes of carbon dioxide (TCO2e) per full-time colleague/contactor.

Progress

Energy use is Quilter’s primary source of Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions. In 2020, we continued our strategy of transitioning our offices to renewable energy tariffs which contributed towards a 33% reduction in total Scope 1 and Scope 2 (location-based) greenhouse gas emissions in 2020.

We also continued to participate in the CDP (formerly ‘Carbon Disclosure Project’), the world’s leading voluntary disclosure system for companies to measure, disclose, manage, and ultimately reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We achieved a rating of ‘C’ for our 2020 disclosure.

Responsible investment