Liontrust Responsible Capitalism Report 2022 - Flipbook - Page 5
Message from the Chief Executive
Sustainability has been rising up the agenda and will continue to do so. There will be
even greater interest in and focus on sustainability as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic
as the need for a cleaner, healthier and safer world becomes ever more apparent. The
pandemic has also reiterated the responsibility we have as investors and guardians of
people’s savings.
Liontrust has experienced and benefited from the transformation that has
already occurred in the demand for sustainable investing. Since moving
to Liontrust on 1 April 2017, the Sustainable Investment team has grown
its assets under management and advice (AuMA) to £6.5 billion as at
30 June 2020. This now accounts for just under a third of Liontrust’s total
AuMA and we are confident the team will continue to grow given the
increasing focus on investing in companies that contribute to and benefit
from making the world cleaner, healthier and safer.
Sustainable investment has proven its ability to deliver superior returns
compared to conventional funds. All eight of the UK-domiciled equity
and managed funds run by the team are in the 1st quartile of their
respective IA sectors over one, three and five years to 31 March 2020.
The SF UK Growth, SF Global Growth, UK Ethical, SF Managed and
SF Managed Growth funds were in the 1st quartile over 1, 3, 5 and
10 years (Source: Financial Express to 31 March 2020, bid-bid, total
return, net of fees, based on primary share classes.)
This success is reflected by research that has shown our team
is regarded as the best for sustainable investment among
intermediaries and private investors (Source: Research in Finance).
The team has been engaging on key social, environmental and
governance (ESG) issues for nearly two decades to challenge and
encourage companies to manage proactively the wider aspects
of their businesses and implement better practices. These in turn
protect the companies’ longer term prospects.
As our investment teams forensically analyse the practices of the
companies they invest in, so Liontrust as a business is now also focused
on integrating sustainability throughout
the Group and ensuring that we are
a responsible company and investor.
The Board and I are committed to
this because it will benefit our clients,
stakeholders and society.
This is Liontrust’s first Sustainability
Report and is an important document
in providing detailed information
and transparency about
how we are managing the
business to ensure we have
a positive impact on clients,
John Ions
stakeholders and society.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
We recommend it is read in
conjunction with our Annual Report and Financial Statements 2020 to
provide a complete picture of Liontrust.
Liontrust has made important progress over the past couple of years
in the sustainability of our business but we recognise we have much
further to go. This Report explains the accomplishments so far and
the targets we are setting ourselves to achieve. I have set out on
the next two pages a summary of our priorities, and in next year’s
Sustainability Report we will review our success in meeting these
targets, what we still need to do and our next set of priorities.
We hope you find this Report interesting and useful. If you want to
discuss any aspect of Liontrust’s sustainability, we will be delighted
to help.
Liontrust Sustainability Report 2020 - 5