Schroders enhances active ownership Engagement Blueprint
News release - 26 January 2023
Schroders today announces it has enhanced its Engagement Blueprint, ensuring our active ownership framework remains effective amid a fast-evolving investment landscape.
The Blueprint, launched in 2022, sets out Schroders’ ambitions and approach to active ownership across six core themes, bringing greater transparency to our clients. These entail climate change, corporate governance, diversity and inclusion, human capital management, human rights, natural capital and biodiversity.
In summary, today’s revised Blueprint will deliver a sharper focus on the Just Transition, expand our natural capital and biodiversity expectations, and map out our shareholder resolution framework.
Kimberley Lewis, Head of Active Ownership, Schroders, said:
“We believe it is important to be transparent with companies, clients and other key stakeholders about our active ownership priorities. This should mean that clients better understand how we plan to execute active ownership responsibilities on their behalf, and companies understand key areas on which we will focus. In this landscape, we cannot stand still and so we have committed to review our priorities and expectations as our understanding of the issues and market best practice evolves to ensure we are pushing for change in the most effective way.”
Claire Glennon, Schroders Head of UK Sustainability, said:
“The evolution of our Blueprint reflects the evolving landscape and feedback from investors and clients. Looking ahead, we will continue to review and evolve our expectations to ensure we are using our influence to push for progress on the most material risks and opportunities faced across our clients’ portfolios.”
In summary, the main enhancements to the Blueprint are:
- A greater focus on the Just Transition
In an effort to better describe how we address the social implications of the net zero transition, this sub theme links to the other relevant themes (human rights, human capital management and diversity and inclusion) - Expanding our natural capital and biodiversity expectations
Schroders is a member of the Natural Capital Investment Alliance and became signatories to the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge in 2022. Our Biodiversity and Natural Capital Position Statement sets out our approach to the investments we manage and our own operations when it comes to nature and biodiversity.
In this edition of the Blueprint we have expanded our expectations of companies, with a particular focus on deforestation. This reflects our proprietary research, evolving market guidance and our firm-wide commitment to this topic. - Shareholder Resolution Framework
Shareholder resolutions have seen a growing focus in recent years. In the Blueprint we have outlined our framework for analysing shareholder resolutions in practice, around four key questions:
Is the resolution aligned with our Blueprint?
Is the resolution the best way to address the issue?
Does the resolution add value to what the company is already doing?
Does the resolution have the potential to cause unintended damaging consequences?
The Blueprint last year won the ‘ESG engagement initiative of the year’ award at Environmental Finance’s Sustainable Investment Awards 2022.