Hymans Robertson is pleased to have been listed as a signatory to the Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) UK Stewardship Code for a third year. Acceptance onto the list again highlights its focus on being a sustainable partnership as well as its ongoing commitment to encouraging and challenging its clients to be better stewards.
In its UK Stewardship Code review 2022, the leading pensions and financial services firm demonstrates how it’s continued to build on its 100 year history of building better futures. It highlights some key successes such as supporting clients to better understand the journey to net zero, as well as establishing an approach to modelling net zero pathways. It also shows examples of cross-sector work with the insurance industry which has helped improve insurers ESG disclosures.
Describing the positive impact of being a signatory to the Financial Reporting Council’s Stewardship Code, Simon Jones, Head of Responsible Investment at Hymans Robertson says: “At Hymans Robertson, we’ve been building better futures for over 100 years. Effective stewardship can create improved outcomes not just for investors, but for our broader society and our environment. This has underpinned our focus on being better stewards. Whilst we are delighted to remain a stewardship code signatory, we are just as pleased to see a growing number of our clients also being named signatories, several for the first time.
“The push to do more, to be better, is a key achievement of the stewardship code. We are constantly striving to help our clients in different ways and to ultimately have a positive real-world impact. This has led us to help our clients turn net-zero ambitions into tangible action plans which will create meaningful change. It’s led us to address issues such as biodiversity loss and deforestation. And it has led us to significantly increase our team so we can help our clients do more.
“Being a Stewardship Code signatory matters because of the high bar it has set for the industry. We focus on stewardship because we want to make a positive difference and want to see others doing the same. We look forward to continue building on the great work we have been able to do in partnership with our clients and doing our bit in helping to drive change.”
Aegon UK joins list of signatories to UK Stewardship Code
Being accepted to join the UK Stewardship Code is a significant achievement for any signatory, and further demonstrates Aegon UK’s commitment to become one of the top 25% responsible businesses in the UK by 2025.
The UK Stewardship Code is a set of voluntary principles that aim to improve the quality of stewardship practices by asset owners, managers and service providers. To become a signatory, organisations must clearly demonstrate that they have exercised effective stewardship over the previous 12 months through good governance and active engagement which has helped to generate long-term positive impacts for the economy, the environment, and/or society.
Tim Orton, Chief Investment Officer at Aegon UK said: “We believe that all asset owners have a responsibility to be good stewards of the world we live in. We are committed to using our influence to drive positive change and create a more sustainable future. Becoming a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code is a significant step forward in Aegon UK’s journey and complements our long-term strategy to fully embed responsible investing into our investment practices. We believe that this is the right thing to do and ultimately this is what our customers expect from us.”
Hilkka Komulainen, Head of Responsible Investment at Aegon UK said: “We are proud to have been accepted as signatories to the code. We believe that all asset owners have a responsibility to be good stewards of the world we live in, and we are committed to using our influence to drive positive change and create a more sustainable future. We are confident that becoming signatories to the UK Stewardship Code will help us on our journey to embed responsible investing into our investment practices more effectively."
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