LEADERS UNIVERSE SUSTAINABLE REAL ASSETS

ESG integration is an ongoing strategic effort, and investment teams will vary in their level of ESG integration. We are presently working to apply these principles into all of Invesco’s assets under management. As noted earlier, there is little value in providing pre-packaged, one-size-fits-all strategies to ESG-focused investors. All are different, with differing time horizons, levels of risk tolerance, return expectations and commitment. Invesco has the depth of products and, combined with a deeply consultative approach, we believe is uniquely positioned to seek to deliver purposeful outcomes for nearly any investment objective.

ESG investing is a fundamental commitment at Invesco. We’re a trusted partner to our clients, both on ESG product strategies and as part of our mission to deliver an investment experience that helps people get more out of life. We adopt and implement ESG principles to align with our fiduciary responsibilities and have strengthened our position through industry advocacy, leadership and innovation.

The starting point for our company-level ESG research is the analysts and fund managers, who will look at a variety of factors. These will differ per asset class, sector, geography and company and will typically be one component of an overall investment view. Based on this initial view, where the fund managers and analysts wish for more detailed ESG information, our Global ESG team can provide proprietary analysis. Crucially, while there is global, centralized support, decisions are ultimately made by our investment managers and analysts – the individuals who know their asset classes and sectors best.

While our first socially responsible investment product was launched over 30 years ago, we became a signatory of the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment in 2013 and have since achieved an A+ in Strategy and Governance for three consecutive years. This rating demonstrates our extensive efforts in ESG integration, active ownership, investor collaboration and transparency. We’re also disclosers to and investor member of the Carbon Disclosure Project, and in 2019 we became supporters of the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) with our inaugural Climate Change report published in Q2 2020.

CBRE Investment Management seeks to deliver sustainable real asset solutions through strategies focusing on direct real estate, indirect real estate, real estate credit, infrastructure and private equity, and listed real assets. We have the responsibility and opportunity to enhance the sustainability of the environment, the well-being of people and to positively influence our operating partners, occupiers, supply chain and industry. Our Sustainability Vision (“Vision”) recognizes that ESG factors are fundamental to our business and to drive long-term outperformance in the real assets portfolios we manage. We seek to implement our Vision through our stewardship, including influencing our operating partners, underlying managers and investee companies.

In our Vision, we seek to lead the transition to a sustainable, net-zero carbon, resilient, equitable and healthy society. Recognizing that this can be achieved only as a collaborative effort, we encourage our partners to join us in delivering this ambition together. We focus on three material ESG topics, identified through comprehensive stakeholder engagement:

• Climate: Address climate-related risks and opportunities by focusing on delivering net-zero carbon performance and physical resilience.
• People: Champion diversity, equity, inclusion and the well-being of our people and other stakeholders.
• Influence: Engage and positively influence key stakeholders where we do not have direct management control

At Van Lanschot Kempen it is our mission to create and preserve wealth for our clients and for society in a sustainable way. As such, we take our role as active investors very seriously. We leverage our influence on sustainability across the value chain; working with clients, managers and companies, to help them achieve both financial returns and sustainable impacts. In every aspect of our business, our commitment is simple: we focus on delivering stable outperformance in the long run with sustainability criteria fully incorporated into everything we do. We take a highly selective approach and strive to combine this with a collaborative decision-making approach.

In 2020, Van Lanschot Kempen showed global leadership with our new Climate Policy, through which we have become one of the first asset managers to commit to becoming a net-zero investor by 2050. Our policy also sets short-term objectives to align all of our listed investments with Paris Agreement pathways by 2025.

We have spent years refining our responsible and sustainable investment philosophy and processes to help our clients preserve and grow assets that yield a real economic return alongside a positive societal and environmental impact. We organise our responsible investment efforts across four pillars: Exclusion and Avoidance, ESG Integration, Active Ownership, and Positive Impact. Through our engagements, we seek to encourage positive change at companies. We engage in a broad range of strategic, financial, corporate governance, environmental and social topics.

We have an integrated approach to responsible investment and ESG research that is embedded within our investment approach, and is supported by our culture of collaboration, sharing of research and ideas, and robust debate. In developing our understanding of a business we take into account its approach to managing environmental, social and governance issues, as well as any controversies that may have arisen.

In 2018 we launched a proprietary and innovative responsible investment (RI) ratings system that combines an assessment of a company’s financial stewardship with an analysis of how well it manages its material ESG risks (using the SASB framework). Combining both aspects into a single, forward-looking company rating from 1 ( strong) to 5 (weak), reflects our conviction that prudent management of financial and ESG factors is important to a company’s ability to create long-term, sustainable value. Utilising data science and cloud computing, the RI analytics and ratings add to our fundamental research, providing our global investment teams with a more robust and evidence based RI capability, with coverage across 5,500 global listed equities.

M&G Investments is a global asset manager with a long history investing and innovating across both public and private markets. We’re part of M&G plc, an international savings and investment business with the ambition to deliver long term value for our investors while working together to create a more positive future. We recognise that clients are increasingly looking to align their investments with their environmental and social values. This is why our investment decisions are underpinned by our commitment to investing responsibly. Considering material environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors is an integral part of our investment approach. Combining market-leading research with our own proprietary data, we believe this helps us make more informed investment decisions. We also pro-actively engage directly with the businesses we invest in to help drive positive change. M&G has committed to reducing our own carbon emissions to net-zero by 2030 and to achieving carbon net-zero investment portfolios by 2050.

Storebrand Asset Management is a leading player in the Nordic market and a pioneer within the field of sustainable investments. We have been at the forefront of sustainable investing since the mid-1990s and are one of the founding signatories of the PRI.

We fundamentally regard sustainability as a significant driver of corporate value i.e., companies that manage current and future environmental and social opportunities and risks will emerge as leaders and are more likely to create a competitive advantage and long-term stakeholder value.

Sustainability is integral to Storebrand Asset Management, this means we evaluate economic, social and environmental aspects before we make any decisions. Our long-term vision for the year 2050 is a world where all people live well, and within the earth’s natural limits. Our standard for sustainable investments is based on the assumption that the companies which contribute to solving society’s problems in a sustainable way will also be the most profitable in the long run. Storebrand was the first Norwegian company to establish a sustainable investment department in 1995, and we have one of the most experienced environmental, social and governance (ESG) teams in the Nordic region. Since 2010, ESG analysis has been steadily integrated into the daily risk management and company/asset selection processes of Storebrand Asset Management’s fund managers.

Storebrand Asset Management’s sustainable investment strategy includes three distinct dimensions that are continuously evaluated and developed to remain in the forefront of sustainable investing. Our three dimensions include risk reduction through exclusions, selection of top performers through a sustainability score and lastly exertion of influence through active ownership.

At Hines, we believe prioritizing ESG factors differentiates our company, supports innovation and, most importantly, benefits people and the planet. For us, this means providing meaningful career and leadership opportunities for our employees, creating exceptional spaces and experiences for the people who live and work in our buildings, pursuing sustainable development and investment opportunities, and building supply chains and systems that optimize energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, minimize waste and water impacts, and deliver value at every step.

Hines recently embarked on a firm-wide effort to accelerate sustainability efforts through the lens of ESG. This led to the creation of a long-term ESG strategy document that internally guides the firm. It is grounded by a strategic framework and highlights 16 key ESG focus areas.

Hines adheres to global policies, practices, and processes to ensure we meet market requirements and industry best practices. Firm disclosures and external reporting commitments will provide transparency to our stakeholders and demonstrate progress over time. And Hines’ ESG pillars contain the focus areas through which the firm strives to lead the market by attracting and retaining great talent and aligning with progressive investor and client goals.

The strategy leverages the strength of Hines regions to prioritize ESG issues and set goals that are relevant and actionable in their local markets and reflect their resources and product offerings. Each regional CEO has appointed an ESG leader with a passion for the work to drive the ESG strategy and ensure regional goals align with and support firm goals.