Responsible Investing

SJP Responsible Investing

We invest our clients’ money responsibly, focusing on long-term financial outcomes to deliver financial wellbeing.

What is responsible investing?

Responsible investing = ESG risks & opportunities + Engagement

Responsible investing doesn't have to be a trade-off between doing the right thing and achieving long-term returns.

Instead, we expect our fund managers to consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities as part of their investment decision making.

Our fund managers regularly engage with businesses to hold them to account and ensure they are making measurable strides towards better practice.

Our approach to responsible investing

ESG factors and why they are important

All companies have Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks and opportunities they need to consider when running their business. These factors will differ depending on a company’s size, industry and location which means there is no one size fits all approach.

Policies around climate change are vital for energy companies. Social media companies are increasingly having to enhance their cyber security and manage the social consequences of their service. The increasing pressure for fast fashion companies to improve transparency around their supply chain and labour practices.

When putting responsible investing into practice our fund managers (the people that manage our funds) consider how companies approach ESG factors when finding companies to invest in for the long-term.

The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds selected and may fall as well as rise. You may get back less than the amount invested.

How do we invest responsibly?

ESG integration

High minimum standards

Our managers must be signed up to the United Nations supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and have at least one named individual or group dedicated to responsible investment. These standards ensure that fund managers are fully integrating ESG factors into their investment decision-making.

Fund research and monitoring

We monitor our fund managers through our annual Responsible Investment Manager Assessment. Our Investment Committee have oversight of our fund managers' ESG approach.

Analysis

We access company ESG data for extra oversight and to challenge our managers' processes. Our engagement partner, Robeco, provide In-depth company research which they use to engage with companies on our behalf.

Engagement

We believe engagement is the most powerful tool to maximise our influence. It is how we encourage others to improve their business practices through addressing ESG risks and opportunities. There are 5 ways we do this:

Engaging with our clients

We listen to our clients views on responsible investment and the ESG issues that matter to them.
Engaging with our fund managers

We set clear expectations for our fund managers during our selection process. We monitor them to check they are engaging with companies on key ESG issues.
Our fund managers’ engagements with companies

Our fund managers apply their expertise to encourage the companies the invest in to improve their business practices.
Our strategic partner Robeco’s engagement with companies

Robeco are engagement specialists. They engage with companies we invest in on around 20 carefully selected ESG themes, such as biodiversity, labour practices in a post-covid world, and responsible executive remuneration.
Robeco produce Quarterly Active Ownership Reports. These reports provide a good overview of what engagement involves and the results it can achieve.
Collaborating with industry

We work with collaborative groups and external partners to develop solutions across responsible investment, stewardship, client disclosure and climate change.
We are proud to be members of:

We listen to our clients views on responsible investment and the ESG issues that matter to them.

We set clear expectations for our fund managers during our selection process. We monitor them to check they are engaging with companies on key ESG issues.

Our fund managers apply their expertise to encourage the companies the invest in to improve their business practices.

Robeco are engagement specialists. They engage with companies we invest in on around 20 carefully selected ESG themes, such as biodiversity, labour practices in a post-covid world, and responsible executive remuneration.

Robeco produce Quarterly Active Ownership Reports. These reports provide a good overview of what engagement involves and the results it can achieve.

We work with collaborative groups and external partners to develop solutions across responsible investment, stewardship, client disclosure and climate change.

We are proud to be members of:

“Validation of our process by once again becoming a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code certainly demonstrates our engagement capability”

Sam Turner,

Head of Responsible Investment & Proposition Strategy

Addressing climate change

Climate change is an environmental concern globally. Our investment proposition is by far our largest contributor to carbon emissions. We joined the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA) in 2020, making a public commitment to achieve net zero across our investments by 2050.

Every year we report the carbon emissions of our investment funds in our TCFD Product Report.

Responsible investing in our investment proposition

Your savings and investments are a key part of your sustainability footprint. We believe you have the right to understand how your money is invested. We want to provide you with choice and the ability to reflect your values in your investments.

Our investment proposition is made up of 3 tiers to ensure we have solutions for all clients and their different needs.

Core

We embed our responsible investment approach across all funds.

Key focus on integrating ESG factors and engagement to support good client outcomes.

Sustainable

Our sustainable fund goes above and beyond our responsible investment approach for those wishing to do more.

Greater focus on addressing material ESG issues such as climate change, biodiversity and equal opportunities.

This fund has an explicit sustainable objective.

Discretionary service

Offered through Rowan Dartington, these are personalised portfolios created from direct investment into companies and sustainable solutions.

Key focus on investing according to a client's specific objectives.

The value of an investment with St. James's Place or Rowan Dartington may fall as well as rise. You may get back less than the amount invested.