Schroders’ Sustainability Accreditation, which was launched by the firm in 2017, currently encompasses more than 50% (£230 billion) of its assets*. Schroders has targeted covering 100% of its funds by the end of 2020.
The accreditation – which spans ‘Screened’, ‘Integrated’, ‘Sustainable’ and ‘Impact’ categories – helps Schroders’ clients distinguish how ESG factors are considered across its products.
It is intended to enable clients to understand the different roles that ESG plays in the investment process and will be documented in the funds’ respective factsheets.
‘Screened’ funds actively exclude certain activities from their portfolios, while ‘Integrated’ funds routinely and robustly consider ESG factors throughout the investment process.
Furthermore, ‘Sustainable’ funds seek to identify the best-in-class most sustainable companies and the ‘Impact’ accreditation highlights funds whose main goal is to achieve specific and measurable ESG impacts.
Jessica Ground, Global Head of Stewardship, Schroders, commented: “We know the value that investment can create for society. That’s why we seek to integrate ESG considerations into our research and overall investment decisions across investment desks and asset classes.
“As an active manager, we see sustainable investment as an integral and necessary part of our responsibility. Our clients are increasingly asking for ESG to be embedded into their portfolios and, in turn, we are also constantly seeking to improve how effectively we integrate ESG across Schroders’ investment desks. It is not just a tick-box process.”
Investment teams that want to use Schroders’ ESG accreditation all undergo the same rigorous process which is reviewed and approved by Jessica and Andrew Howard, Schroders’ Head of Sustainable Research. All accreditations are reviewed annually.
Investment teams must produce a paper which sets out the role that ESG plays in their investment philosophy and practice, which provides ample evidence that ESG analysis is systematic and rigorous. They need to demonstrate via case studies the impact that this work has had on their portfolios.
Earlier this year, Schroders’ commitment to responsible investing was recognised with the highest accolade for the fifth consecutive year.
The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), an influential United Nations-backed global investor initiative, awarded Schroders with an A+ rating for its overall strategy and governance in relation to sustainable investment. Just 25% of investment managers globally were awarded the A+ rating.
Last month, Schroders announced that its corporate revolving credit facility has been converted into an ESG-linked facility, an innovative move which underlines the firm’s commitment to sustainability from a corporate, as well as investment, perspective.
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