Responsible investment

Post on: 16 Март, 2015 No Comment

Policy

Responsible Investment is the term Henderson uses to cover its work on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues in the companies in which we invest on clients’ behalf, across all our funds.

Responsible Investment Policy

Henderson’s Responsible Investment Policy sets out our approach to ESG issues, including proxy voting policy, for our Investment Management business, which includes all our equities and fixed income teams.

We believe that in order to achieve long-term success, companies need not only to conceive and execute appropriate business strategies, but also to maintain high standards of corporate governance and corporate responsibility. We therefore expect companies to operate according to recognised national and international standards in these areas.

The UK Stewardship Code

The UK Stewardship Code was published in July 2010. The Code sets out good practice for shareholders on engagement with investee companies, and is overseen by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). Our statement of compliance with the Code can be found below.

Japan’s Stewardship Code

Japans’s Stewardship Code was published in February 2014. The Code sets out best practice principles for responsible institutional investors. It was produced by a Council of Experts appointed by the Financial Services Agency (FSA). Our statement of compliance with the Code can be found below.

Related Henderson websites:

Sustainable & Responsible Investment Funds For information about Henderson’s Sustainable & Responsible Investment Funds, please see your relevant website.

Responsible Property Investment The Henderson Property business has a website dedicated to responsible property investment. Please click here for more information.

Corporate responsibility at Henderson To find out more about Henderson’s own approach to CSR please see the corporate responsibility pages .

Implementation

We implement our Responsible Investment Policy through active management, integration of ESG factors into investment decision making, voting and company engagement.

Responsible Investment Committee

Henderson has a Responsible Investment Committee which oversees and reviews the implementation of the Responsible Investment Policy and any other related corporate governance and responsible investment matters within Henderson that may arise. The Committee is chaired by our Head of Equities, and comprises representatives from all our fund management teams as well as the Governance and Responsible Investment team.

The Committee is responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of our corporate governance and corporate responsibility work in influencing companies and generating analysis of value to our investment decision-making.

Governance and Responsible Investment Team

The Governance and Responsible Investment team (GRI) works closely with our investment teams to assist in the implementation of our policy. The team provides support to fund managers on research and engagement and leads on our participation in various external ESG initiatives. The GRI team is also responsible for overseeing our proxy voting process on behalf of fund managers.

ESG integration

Fund managers are ultimately responsible for the integration of ESG issues into investment decision making and engagement as part of their investment processes. To help facilitate this we subscribe to a wide range of specialist external ESG research to complement in-house research and engagement. This research is made directly available to all investment teams, as well as being used by the GRI team to screen for ESG issues of concern. In addition, fund managers receive detailed ESG investment risk reports which are discussed at regular risk review meetings.

Engagement

We take an active approach to communicating our views to companies and seeking improvements where we believe there are shortcomings in performance, or a company has failed to apply appropriate standards, or to provide adequate disclosure. We will continue our dialogue with the company over an extended period if necessary. Escalation of our engagement activities will depend upon the company’s individual circumstances. Actions may include communications through the company’s brokers, direct engagement with the chairman or non-executive directors or joint intervention with other shareholders, and where appropriate, voting against board proposals.

Voting

We believe that voting at general meetings is an important aspect of corporate stewardship and a means of signalling shareholder views on board policy, practices and performance. We exercise voting rights on behalf of clients at all UK and global meetings. Where voting impediments are in place, such as share blocking, we vote on a case-by-case basis.

The Henderson view represents the house position. The views expressed are the opinion of Henderson Global Investors and reflects the way Henderson acted based on available information. It should not be relied upon for any other purpose.

UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)

In April 2006 Henderson Global Investors became a founding signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment. The Principles, developed under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General, are a voluntary and aspirational framework for incorporating environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues into mainstream investment decision-making and ownership practices.

Team members

George Birch

Affiliations

As part of our commitment to responsible investment, Henderson is involved in a wide range of ESG related initiatives as a member, supporter or in an advisory capacity. These initiatives include:

Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)

CDP works to encourage companies to disclose their impacts on the environment and natural resources and take action to reduce them. It now holds the largest collection globally of primary climate change, water and forest-risk information.

Henderson is a participant in Carbon Action; an investor-led initiative seeking acceleration on carbon reduction and energy efficient activities from the world’s highest emitting companies.

Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) supports improved governance in resource-rich countries through the verification and full publication of company payments and government revenues from oil, gas and mining.

Henderson is a signatory of the Investors’ Statement on Transparency in the Extractives Sector.

Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC)

The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) is a forum for collaboration between pension funds and other institutional investors on issues related to climate change. IIGCC seeks to promote better understanding of the implications of climate change amongst institutional investors and to encourage companies and markets in which IIGCC members invest to address any material risks and opportunities to their businesses associated with climate change and a shift to a lower carbon economy.

National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF)

The NAPF is the representative organisation for workplace pensions in the UK. It has membership in excess of 1300, between them providing pensions to more than 10 million working people with combined assets in excess of £800 bn.

UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)

Founded in early 2005 by UNEP FI and the UN Global Compact, the PRI is a set of voluntary and aspirational principles giving a framework for the integration of ESG issues into mainstream investment decision making and ownership practices. The PRI has become the pre-eminent reference point for evaluating the commitment of institutional investors to responsible investment.

UK Social Investment Forum (UKSIF)

UKSIF is the UK’s membership network for sustainable and responsible financial services. UKSIF promotes responsible investment and other forms of finance that support sustainable economic development, enhance quality of life and safeguard the environment. It also seeks to ensure that individual and institutional investors can reflect their values in their investments.