Liontrust Responsible Capitalism Report 2024 - Flipbook - Page 20
Liontrust’s Executive Directors (Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and
Chief Finance Officer/Chief Operations Officer (CFO/COO)
The CEO and the CFO/COO have executive oversight of
Responsible Capitalism. The CEO is the line manager for the Head
of Responsible Capitalism, who provides regular updates to both
the CEO and the CFO/COO on progress with regard to the
Responsible Capitalism strategy for the Group. Both the CEO and
the CFO/COO are hugely supportive of developing Responsible
Capitalism across Liontrust.
Liontrust’s Management Committees (“ManCos”)
The Liontrust ManCos meets at least four times each year and is
responsible for running the authorised Liontrust entities, ensuring they
meet their regulatory requirements; assisting the CEO in carrying
out the Group’s strategy, including the strategy’s Responsible
Capitalism aspects; ensuring the Group’s legislative requirements
around human rights and employment are fulfilled; assessing the
Group’s regulatory, compliance, and operational related risks,
including those around financial crime, bribery, cyber security and
people; reviewing any incidents; and ensuring the Group’s plan for
business continuity and disaster recovery are operational.
Responsible Capitalism Committee (“RCC”)
The Responsible Capitalism Committee, or “RCC” (previously
called the Sustainability and Stewardship Committee), is the
governing body for Responsible Capitalism at Liontrust. It is headed
by the Head of Responsible Capitalism; other members include
the CFO/COO, Liontrust’s Chair of the Board, the NED who has
responsibility for Responsible Capitalism, the Chief Risk Officer,
the Head of Liontrust’s Sustainable Investment team, the Head of
Human Resources, and the Head of Responsible Capitalism.
The RCC meets four to six times each year to approve actions
and/or policies initiated or updated by the Responsible Capitalism
team. It also approves Responsible Capitalism-related reports and
publications and has oversight of the Responsible Capitalismrelated activities undertaken at Liontrust. Papers for each committee
meeting are submitted in advance of the RCC meetings and all
actions are minuted.
Regulatory Change Forum
The Regulatory Change Forum (for Sustainable Finance Initiatives),
formerly called the ESG Regulation Working Group, meets
regularly during the year to provide representatives from across
the business with updates on changes in regulation – including
those relating to ESG labelling, reporting, and/or regulator
expectations. This Forum also helps to ensure that the Group’s funds
with specific labels or under specific disclosure regimes meet their
required reporting requirements and fund label criteria. In 2022,
the Forum helped ensure the Group was kept up to date with all
applicable ESG-related regulatory changes and had oversight of
any resulting requirements, such as the level 2 requirements of the
EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
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This Forum is chaired by Liontrust’s Regulatory Affairs Lead. This
individual has extensive experience and knowledge of UK and
European regulation relating to ESG and stewardship. She also
supports the Group’s wider compliance activities. The Forum is
comprised of the Regulatory Affairs Lead, the Chief Compliance
Officer, the Chief Risk Officer, the Head of Product, and the Head
of Responsible Capitalism. Other Liontrust employees join the
meetings periodically and/or as needed.
Portfolio Risk Committee (“PRC”)
The Portfolio Risk Committee (PRC), chaired by Liontrust’s Chief
Risk Officer, is responsible for the management of investment
risk in the Group’s regulated entities. This oversight encompasses
portfolio risk management systems and operations together with
the monitoring of portfolio risk investment restrictions. The PRC
also monitors portfolio performance and investment processes,
establishing parameters for exception reporting and ensuring that
appropriate client communications are prepared, as necessary. The
PRC ensures that investment teams have appropriate risk processes
in place and that each fund has an agreed risk profile which
details all the monitored risk controls and the risk limits for each
fund. This process enables the committee to monitor and measure
the risk of Liontrust’s funds’ positions and their contribution to the
Group’s overall risk profile. The PRC also oversees and reviews
ESG integration into investment processes, ensuring that funds are
run in lines with ESG commitments. Exception reporting highlights if
there is a gap between what is promised by each investment team
and what is delivered. The PRC provides independent oversight of
Liontrust’s investment teams.
The Chief Risk Officer, who has over 20 years of experience
heading up Liontrust’s risk function, is responsible for Risk at the
firm level, overseeing all risk management and legal functions of
the Group. The Chief Risk and Compliance Officers report directly
to the COO and have a dotted line to the chair of the Audit and
Risk Committee to ensure there are no conflicts of interest. Other
members of the PRC include a NED, the Chief Compliance Officer,
Head of the Multi-Asset investment team, the Head of Performance
and Data Insights, the Head (or Deputy Head) of Investment
Operations, and the Head of Performance.
Sustainable Investment team’s Advisory Committee
The Sustainable Investment team has a four-strong, external Advisory
Committee which provides advice specifically to the Sustainable
Investment team about its funds and holdings. This advice does not
overlap with Liontrust’s business, overall Group strategy, or Liontrust’s
other investment teams. The Committee meets with the Sustainable
Investment team three times a year; members of the Responsible
Capitalism team may also attend these meetings for informational
purposes. (As this Group does not provide oversight to Liontrust’s
Group operations or approach to Responsible Capitalism/
stewardship, it is not included in the chart below.)