Liontrust Responsible Capitalism Report 2022 - Flipbook - Page 34
Promoting Responsible Investment
Liontrust believes it is right to promote the acceptance and implementation of the PRI
Principles within the investment industry.
Led by Peter Michaelis, the Liontrust Sustainable Investment team were
among the pioneers of sustainable investing when they launched the
Sustainable Future (SF) fund range in 2001.
highlighting the different approaches to sustainable investing, the benefits,
why investors do not need to give up performance to invest sustainably,
how to identify greenwashing and the UN’s SDGs.
The team was a founding member of the PRI and is now a member of five
PRI Working Groups. The team has engaged on issues, often in the face
of severe criticism, that are now central to mainstream investing.
In September 2019, Liontrust held our first dedicated sustainable investment
conference. A Vision of a Sustainable Future included presentations by Leo
Johnson and Jonathon Porritt, companies describing their adoption and
integration of sustainability, and fund buyers outlining their experience of
investing sustainably.
These include raising concerns about the risks posed by oil sand investment
and arctic drilling, poor health and safety in clothing supply chains,
palm oil driven deforestation and the mis-selling of financial products,
and focusing on positive sectors such as healthcare, clean energy and
technology improving our world.
Since the earliest days of the SF funds, labour standards in supply chains
have been an important engagement area and the team has been
involved in several major projects designed to improve this, from Oxfam
launching Better Returns in a Better World in 2006 to Fashion Revolution,
formed in the wake of the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster.
The team holds regular educational seminars to explain sustainable/ESG
investment to financial intermediaries and private investors. This includes
Initiatives,
Memberships,
Affiliations
- United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (“PRI”) Signatory
- Financial Reporting Council (FRC) Stewardship Code Member
Members of
the Sustainable
team are
represented on
the following
PRI working
groups
The team has sought to raise awareness of the importance to preserve
biodiversity by hosting joint podcasts with ZSL and SPOTT (Sustainability
Policy Transparency Toolkit).
We produce and distribute regular articles and content to promote and
inform about sustainable investment. These are emailed to financial
intermediaries, distributed via our partners and platforms, posted on social
media and written up by journalists.
IA Committees
and Working
Groups
- Matthew McLoughlin, Buy-Side Trading Committee
- Tony Morrison, CASS Discussion Group
- Martin Kearney, CASS Discussion Group
- Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (“TCFD”) Supporters
- Martin Kearney, Compliance Discussion Group
- 30% Club Investor Group - Member of the Investor Group
- Phil Milburn, Fixed Income Committee
- Workforce Disclosure Initiative (“WDI”) - Supporters
- Martin Kearney, Funds Discussion Group
- CDP (formally known as Carbon Disclosure Project) Signatories, data on carbon emissions, water & deforestation
- Edward Catton, Funds Investment Risk Group
- UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association
(“UKSIF”) - Signatory
Endorsed
Statements
Liontrust regularly sponsors responsible investment events held by third
parties. These include UKSIF’s Good Money Week and SRI Services and
Partners Good Money Week.
- PRI Statement of Investor Commitment to Support a “Just
Transition” on Climate Change – Endorsed statement
- Milly Porter, Financial Crime Committee
- Martin Kearney, Governance WG
- Matthew McLoughlin, IA - AFME Market Hours Steering
Group
- Edward Catton, IA Law Forum
- PRI Sustainable Palm Oil Expectation statement – Endorsed
statement
- Simon Hildrey, Investor Communications
Working Group
- Global Investor Statement to Governments on Climate
Change – Endorsed statement
- Clare Prince, Product Development and
Regulation Committee
- PRI Investor statement on deforestation and forest fires in the
Amazon – Endorsed statement
- Simon Hildrey, Retail Marketing Committee
- PRI Listed Equity Advisory Committee
- PRI Sustainable Palm Oil Investor working Group
- PRI SDG and Active Ownership Committee
- PRI Global Investor Taskforce on Tax & the PRI Tax Advisory
Committee
- PRI Cyber Security
- PRI Working Group for a Just Transition
34 - Liontrust Sustainability Report 2020
- Katie O’Brien, Senior Manager & Certification
Regime WG
- David Little, SII Data Working Group
- Simon Hildrey, Social Media Forum
- Tony Morrison, Tax Discussion Group