Schroders awarded top responsible investment rating from Principles for Responsible Investment for fifth successive year

Schroders is pleased to announce that its commitment to responsible investing has been recognised with the highest accolade for the fifth consecutive year.

The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), an influential United Nations-backed global investor initiative, has 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.

This score entailed Schroders receiving an A+ rating for its approach to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing within private equity, an improvement on the A ranking a year ago.

Furthermore, its corporate non-financial approach to ESG fixed income investing also received an A+ rating, also an upgrade on last year’s A rating.

Schroders’ Institutional Investor Study has found that 74% of investors globally believe that investing sustainably will grow in importance over the next five years. In Asia, 68% of investors think the same, which was a 9% increase from the previous year.

Jessica Ground, Global Head of Stewardship, Schroders, commented:

“Our continuing focus on responsible investment has been recognised for the fifth year in a row by the PRI. Another A+ ranking demonstrates that, when it comes to our commitment to sustainability, Schroders remains entirely committed to engaging on ESG risks that could prove material for our clients.

“As an active manager, we see sustainable investment as an integral and necessary part of our responsibility. We integrate ESG analysis into our investment processes as it is essential to securing long-term, sustainable returns in a continually changing investment environment for our clients.”

Amy Cho, Chief Executive Officer, Hong Kong and Head of Intermediary Clients, Asia Pacific, Schroders, commented:

“Investors in Hong Kong are increasingly conscious on how their investments are making positive impacts. Sustainable investing is now a key discussion topic in our engagements with both institutional and intermediary clients. For instance, many institutional investors are looking to incorporate ESG considerations into their investment and manager selection process. On the intermediary side, we are having deeper conversations with our distribution partners and offering them training assistance to help enhance awareness and knowhow on ESG.”

“This is not surprising given regulators and society are pressuring companies to take responsibility for their impacts on issues such as climate change and obesity. As a result, these environmental and social externalities may become tangible financial costs to companies. It is more important than ever that investors consider the social impacts of companies and portfolios, rather than relying purely on financial measures.”

As a leader in sustainable investing, Schroders is constantly developing new tools and frameworks that will help identify, measure and manage the impact of ESG issues on our investments. This includes the recently launched SustainEx, an investment framework that identifies some of the world’s most sustainable investment markets and sectors by analysing the net benefits or costs companies create. Other tools we have deployed include the Climate Progress Dashboard and Carbon Value at Risk modelling.

Continuing to expand its sustainability capabilities, Schroders announced on 26 July that it had acquired a majority stake in BlueOrchard, the pioneer in microfinance and impact investing.

Founded in 2006, the PRI has 2,372 signatories globally, including investment managers, asset owners and service providers, representing $86.3 trillion in assets. Its goal is to encourage investors to incorporate sustainability into their decision-making.

Each year, the PRI’s signatories are required to disclose their responsible investment process to the PRI through a detailed reporting framework. This is reviewed and assigned a rating by the PRI.