"Reshaping and adapting our investment approach for the benefit of all"

Ken Hogg
CEO Countrywide Assured

Looking after your money means investing for the long term. Investing involves more than making money. Today many fund managers, including Schroders, are looking beyond the profitability of the companies that make up the investment fund.

Fund managers recognise that businesses like ours and individual investors want to invest in other companies that behave responsibly. This means looking beyond a company’s potential profitability over the long term. For example, examining how a company affects the environment, treats their staff and customers, including the wider community, and measures up ethically in their business

structure and practices. Schroders believes that to judge a company’s value to investors over the long term, they need to rely on more than just the company’s ability to make money. This is ‘Responsible Investing’ in a nutshell. It’s an umbrella term to describe a fund manager’s approach to their decision making and choice of investments.

Schroders’ philosophy
Schroders sees themselves as ‘long-term stewards’ of their clients’ money and describes responsible investment as ‘[focusing] on companies’ corporate citizenship and their contribution to social outcomes.’ Making the world a better place for everyone through ‘effective and responsible active ownership’ has long been part of Schroders’ approach.

They integrate their ‘ESG’, Environment, Social and Governance, investment criteria as part of their Responsible Investing and have done so across their investments and the group for the past twenty years. They are committed to integrating their ESG criteria across all its investments by the end of 2020.*

*Source: https://www.schroders.com/en/media-relations/newsroom/all_news_releases/schroders-commits-to-full-esg-investment-integration-by-2020 20/11/19

Examples of ESG

Environment Social Governance
Climate Employee well being Business model
Recycling & reducing plastic waste Treating customers fairly Company structure
Biodiversity Diversity Humans Rights record
Buildings and office management Relationships with business partners and suppliers Anti-corruption

These are just a few examples of the areas that form the ESG criteria with many overlapping across all three areas.

WHAT DOES RESPONSIBLE INVESTING MEAN FOR YOU?

We welcome your views on Responsible Investing, to discover the areas that may be of interest to you. For example, investing to limit climate change and in funds that promote positive outcomes for the environment, such as sustaining and improving biodiversity and/or reducing carbon emissions.

SHARE YOUR VIEWS
Share your views with us by completing our short survey. You’ll find there’s space to add any comments too.

Your responses and the results will only be seen by us here at Countrywide Assured and shared with Schroders, our sole fund manager.

Survey

Independent recognition

Schroders’ approach is rated A+ by the United Nation’s PRI organisation and the No.1 Asset Manager by ShareAction*
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*Source: https://www.schroders.com/en/strategic-capabilities/sustainability/ 28/04/20