LEADERS UNIVERSE SUSTAINABLE FIXED INCOME

Responsible Investing lies at the heart of NN Investment Partners’ investment beliefs. We started to manage our first sustainable equity strategy more than 20 years ago, which have been able to show consistent outperformance throughout the full market cycle. It proved resilient during the financial crisis in 2008 and also held up well in the first quarter of 2020, outperforming its traditional counterparts, as the impact of the coronavirus hit markets.

At the core of our investment philosophy is the underlying belief that sustainable companies perform better in the long term. In our view, long-term winning companies are ones that are able to sustainably create value through providing sustainable solutions, exhibiting sustainable behaviour and
possessing a sustainable competitive position. We strongly believe that societal and financial returns can be achieved simultaneously and that both factors reinforce each other.

NN (L) Global Equity Impact Opportunities philosophy demonstrates that societal and financial returns can be achieved simultaneously and that both factors reinforce each other. For us, both types of re-turns are equally important. The best (managed) companies take a holistic view to value creation, including their impact on broader society. And companies that provide valuable solutions for society are more likely to get paid.
We aim to exploit mispriced externalities and invest along the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). By doing so, we are positioned for growth, optimize potential impact, and minimize sensitivity to in-creasing internalization of social and environmental costs.

LGT Capital Partners is a leading alternative investment specialist with over USD 60 billion in assets under management and more than 500 institutional clients in 37 countries. Headquartered in Pfaeffikon (SZ), Switzerland, the firm has offices in New York, Dublin, London, Paris, Vaduz, Dubai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Sydney. An international team of over 500 professionals is responsible for managing a wide range of investment programs focusing on private markets, liquid alternatives and multi-asset class solutions. Since 2002, LGT Capital Partners has been encouraging the integration of ESG in its offering and its promotion in the financial industry. In 2008, the firm was one of the first signatories of the UN PRI. Moreover, since 2018 LGT Capital Partners engages with PRI as a member of its Board. Our sustainable approach forms a key part of our corporate culture and is clearly reflected in our investment activities.

LGT Capital Partners has for a long time adopted a sustainable investment approach. We integrate principles of sustainability into a variety of asset classes and investment structures. Consideration of ESG (environmental, social and governance) factors may apply in the area of alternative investments in the same manner as for equities and bonds, fund of funds solutions or direct investment solutions and mandates.

In terms of investment products, our global investment universe excludes companies involved in the production, storage and supply of controversial weapons such as nuclear weapons, land mines, cluster bombs/munitions and biological and chemical weapons.

ESG Report 2019

For what is already the seventh time, the annual ESG Report from LGT Capital Partners shows how LGT’s portfolio managers incorporate sustainability factors into their investment processes and what kind of ecological footprint LGT Capital Partners’ stock portfolio has.

Read the entire ESG Report 2019 (PDF) online.

Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI) launched their first sustainable investing strategy 20 years ago, consistently being in the front line in engaging with leading organizations to help shape best practices that will better serve investors and communities as a whole. They have been a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) since 2007.

Given the diversity of investors’ objectives and requirements, they provide a truly active approach to asset management via a broad range of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG),  Sustainable and Responsible Investing (SRI), Impact and SDG-aligned solutions that are adaptable and can be tailored to client preferences – across all asset classes including Fixed Income, Equities, Multi-Asset and Alternatives.

AllianzGI combine integrated-ESG (IESG) analysis with a robust stewardship approach in order to improve the risk profile of their investments, steering companies towards greater and more sustainable long-term profitability. This encourages

the adoption of better business models and behaviour by investee companies.

For investors aiming to achieve a positive environmental and social effect or a pre-defined impact as part of their investment strategy, AllianzGI offers dedicated SRI and Impact strategies. For investors aiming to reflect a norms- or value-based view in assets, they are able to provide such concepts, for example through exclusion lists.

All portfolio holdings of AllianzGI mutual funds are typically made public in the funds’ reports and the largest holdings are reported more frequently. If there are any questions, please contact AllianzGI directly or visit nordic.allianzgi.com/en-gb/pro. 

Sustainability is our lens for the viability of our investments. Thus, we believe

• that long-term thinking is the main condition for real and lasting economic success
• in investing in businesses that provide the right solutions for the future, while avoiding companies that fail to address future challenges
• that incorporating a sustainability mind-set at all times increases the quality of our analysis and raises the level of our insights
• that integrating all aspects of sustainability into the investment process leads to better outcomes by reducing risks and harnessing long-term opportunities.

The ESG analysis of companies is based on a proprietary assessment methodology developed by the Sustainable Investment Research team of the Bank. All ratings are conducted by in-house sustainability analysts (using aggregated sustainability data from renowned third-party providers). The sustainability rating incorporates two dimensions, which are combined in the Sarasin Sustainability-Matrix®: a Sector Rating (comparative assessment of industries based upon their impacts on environment and society) and a Company Rating (comparative assessment of companies within their industry based upon their performance in managing their ESG risks and opportunities). Only companies with a sufficiently high combined rating qualify for the Bank’s sustainability funds.

Calvert Research and Management (Calvert) is a leader in ESG and traces its roots to Calvert Investment Management which was formed in 1976 and was a founding signatory to the UN PRI in 2006. Calvert launched its first responsible investment strategy in 1982 that divested from companies doing business in apartheid-era South Africa. Calvert is a signatory to multiple ESG initiatives and notably, the Calvert Women’s Principles were also adopted as the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles.

Calvert’s philosophy is to invest in companies that demonstrate positive environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance as we address corporate responsibility and sustainability challenges. Calvert believes that there are long-term societal and financial benefits to an investment philosophy that attaches material weight to these factors.

Our in-house ESG research team are guided by the proprietary Calvert Principles towards the goal of earning competitive investment returns for clients while influencing progress and creating a positive impact on society. Research focuses on identifying the financially material ESG risks to which issuers are exposed, evaluating management teams’ ability to navigate those risks, and recognising opportunities for companies to improve their ESG performance.  Analysts parse thousands of ever-evolving data points to differentiate issuers based on financially material ESG issues, informing both our investment decisions and our corporate engagement efforts.

Calvert has a long history of advocacy and engagement. Engagement at Calvert consists of direct dialogue with company leadership, proxy voting, filing shareholder resolutions, working with other investors in multi-stakeholder engagements, and working with legislative and regulatory authorities. We believe that making improvements on material ESG issues may not only promote positive change, but also drive shareholder value.

Calvert was launched as an affiliate manager of Eaton Vance Corp. at the end of 2016.

Back in the 1990s, Robeco was one of the first asset managers to see the potential of sustainability as a way of enhancing investment returns for our clients. With this principal aim in mind, we integrate environmental, social and governance ( ESG) information gained from leading sustainability research into our investment processes, and actively engage with the companies in our portfolios.

At Robeco we see sustainability as a long-term force for change in markets, countries and companies. This means it can have an important impact on future performance. So in our investment processes, we treat sustainability just like any other value driver, such as company financials or market momentum. We are convinced that this leads to better-informed investment decisions.

We have access to research from leading sustainability specialists, such as our sister company, RobecoSAM. We are particularly interested in materiality: which ESG elements impact companies’ financial performance and which don’t. This enables us to focus on the information that is most relevant to our investment performance. After all, our aim is first and foremost to achieve good investment returns for our clients. At Robeco, we regularly publish articles, white papers, engagement case studies and academic research on sustainability.

A dedicated team of engagement specialists maintains an active dialogue with some 200 companies a year on financially material themes that we identify in consultation with our investors. This has proven to be a successful means of influencing corporate behavior. They also vote at around 5,000 shareholder annual general meetings. All Robeco’s activities are in line with the Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI), which require asset managers to be active owners and incorporate ESG factors into their ownership policies and practices

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.

Aristotle Credit Partners, LLC (Aristotle Credit) specializes in ESG-integrated corporate credit investing.  We believe that integrating ESG factors into our investment analysis, engagement, and impact monitoring practices can positively influence corporate sustainability while enhancing our credit selection process and risk-adjusted performance.

The team is led by two Portfolio Managers Doug Lopez, CFA and Terry Reidt, CFA, who have been managing ESG credit strategies together since 1995 at their prior firm.

We invest in companies we deem to have positive practices for the advancement of ESG factors within their organizations and industries. Our ESG analysis also seeks to minimize exposure to companies whose ESG characteristics may be harmful to underlying creditworthiness and stakeholder interests.  Through our stewardship and engagement activities, we seek to broadly improve corporate ESG disclosure and performance.

 ESG factors are integrated into our fundamental credit research process to select credits that meet our investment objectives while providing the greatest positive ESG impact on the portfolio.  We focus on investing in companies that we believe provide transparency on material ESG data, possess higher ESG scores relative to their peers and show the propensity to improve ESG disclosure and scores.  By investing in this manner, we are encouraging ESG best practices within our investable universe.

We believe engaging in dialogue with companies on their ESG practices  provides important insights and can further improve returns.  As a source of liquidity and capital to companies, in our opinion, we are uniquely positioned to communicate the importance investors place on their sustainability practices.  To maximize the impact of our ESG engagement activity, we directly engage management teams on ESG issues while also participating in an investor engagement pool managed by a third-party service provider.

Aristotle Credit has been a proud PRI Signatory since 2015. Visit Aristotle Credit for more information and to watch our ESG Rating Video.

As the asset manager within the German co-operative financial services network, responsibility has been an integral part of the way we carry out our business since our foundation in 1956. We launched our first portfolio formally incorporating sustainability criteria in 1990 and our Assets under Management in sustainable portfolios have grown to over EUR 53 bn since then, making us one of the largest sustainable asset managers in Europe.

We see it as our duty to play an active role in the transition to a more sustainable economy and society which includes the preservation of our natural resources. Furthermore, we firmly believe that sustainability goes hand in hand with economic value added over the long-term.

Accordingly, we take ESG risks and opportunities into account alongside financial parameters throughout all of our investment processes and encourage companies to take a responsible approach to business in the context of our engagement dialogues.

Due to the complexity of sustainable investment, our ESG incorporation entails a thorough analysis of available data and information performed jointly by our fundamental portfolio managers and our 15 dedicated ESG analysts with the help of our proprietary ESG research tool SIRIS (“Sustainable Investment Research and Information System”).

Our approach to responsible investment is guided by leading national and international standards, in particular the UN Global Compact, the UN Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI) and the German Investment Fund Association (BVI)’s Code of Conduct.

We generally do not invest in companies involved in the manufacture of outlawed weapons or coal mining. Furthermore, we may exclude issuers from our investment universe if, for example, an issuer is in serious breach of the UN Global Compact.

Beyond these ESG principles, we honour the individual ethical beliefs of our clients and therefore offer ESG strategies customised to their requirements.

Last but not least, we have incorporated sustainability into the way we carry out our own business.

Visit www.union-investment.com/sustainable_investments for more information including ESG videos.