| Organisational Overview | ||||||
| Organisational Overview This section captures information that helps determine if some of the subsequent questions are required and also plays a role in benchmarking. Please make sure you provide accurate answers. This is also one of the more challenging sections as it may require gathering information from multiple sources. We suggest you collect all this information before progressing to other parts of the questionnaire. | ||||||
| 1. What were your organisation's total assets under management as of the most recent count (in millions)? (Estimating to the nearest hundred million as of December 31 2008 would be preferable - although the most recent available count would be sufficient. If your currency is not listed, please select 'other' and indicate your currency or convert to United States dollars.) | 60132 | |||||
| Please select currency | Euro (EUR) | |||||
| 1a. If 'other' was selected, please specify the other currency here | No Answer | |||||
2. Please pick the one category and level of complexity that best describes your organisation (if your organisation is a pension fund, please also select your pension type). This information may be used to provide you with the best possible benchmarking. Complexity
| ||||||
| Mainstream investment manager | Highly complex | |||||
| 2a. If 'other' was selected, please specify the other category here | No answer | |||||
| 3. Please provide an approximation of your average asset mix for 2008 or your asset mix as of the most recent count (in percent):(+/- 5% is sufficient. The sum of all the fields must be 100%) | ||||||
Active | Passive | Active | Passive | |||
| Listed equity (developed markets) | 1 | 0 | 57 | 0 | ||
| Listed equity (emerging markets) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Fixed income (not including corporate issuers) | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Fixed income (corporate issuers) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Private equity | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Listed real estate or property | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Non-listed real estate or property | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Hedge funds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Commodities | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Infrastructure | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Cash | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 34 | 0 | ||
| Governance, Policy and Strategy | ||||||
| Governance, Policy and StrategyQuestions 5 through 15 are about the governance and oversight of your organisation's responsible investment activities and the associated policies and strategy. This section will be scored separately from the six Principles."Policy" in this section may refer to one overall RI policy or multiple policies that address various elements of RI. | ||||||
| 5. Do you have a policy that makes specific reference to responsible investment (RI) or environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues? | Yes | |||||
| 6. If you have a policy that makes specific reference to RI/ESG issues, which of the following Principles does it address?(Please check all that apply.) | Principle 1: We will incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes. | |||||
| 7. If you have a policy that makes specific reference to RI/ESG issues, which of the following asset classes does it apply to?(Please check all that apply.) | Listed equity (developed markets),Listed equity (emerging markets) | |||||
| 8. If you have a policy that makes specific reference to RI/ESG issues, when was your policy last reviewed? | Within the last 3 years | |||||
| 9. If you have a policy that makes specific reference to RI/ESG issues, has it been disclosed publicly?(If answering yes, please indicate how this statement can be obtained - a URL would be sufficient. If answering no, please explain why not.) | Yes: 'http://www.rcm.co.uk/download/9901_RCM_and_its_Sustainable_Investment_Philosophy_HP15081.pdf' | |||||
10. To what extent has your approach to responsible investment been translated into a plan of action as reflected in business planning, strategic planning, or similar internal management processes?
| To a moderate extent | |||||
| 11. Who within your organisation has responsibilities related to RI implementation?(Please check all that apply.) | Chief Executive Officer or Chief Investment Officer or equivalent,RI or ESG specialist | |||||
| 12. Do you have a policy or approach/process that requires screening out or excluding stocks or sectors from your investment universe? | Sectors | |||||
| 13. What are your reasons for screening out or excluding stocks or sectors from your investment universe?(Please check all that apply.) | We (and/or our clients) wish to avoid supporting the companies/sectors in question based on ethical considerations and we regard buying/holding their stock as providing such support,We screen for clients when requested | |||||
| 14. Please describe how your organisation assesses if there is a link between your RI activities and the performance (risk and return) of your investments: | In the same way we monitor the performance of our fundamental research votes, we are able to back-test the performance of our Sustainability Research ratings to determine the extent to which "best in class" ESG performers have out (or under) performed "worst in class" ESG performers. We recently undertook a "proof of concept" investigation, for which a portfolio of "A" (best in class) rated companies was benchmarked against a portfolio of "E" (worst in class) rated companies (as determined by our Sustainability Research process, informed by Innovest data). We were able to backtest the performance of both portfolios over a period of 5 years and found that, over 3, 4, and 5 years the annualised returns of the A-rated portfolio were ahead of the E-rated portfolio. | |||||
| 15. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Governance, Policy, and Strategy here. | No Answer | |||||
| Principle 1 | ||||||
Principle 1: We will incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes.For the purposes of this questionnaire, integration is the consideration of ESG issues alongside traditional financial measures, based on the belief that ESG issues can affect the performance (risk and/or return) of investment portfolios (to varying degrees across companies, sectors, regions, asset classes and through time). Please note that the view that ESG issues can influence investment returns may be based either on
| ||||||
| 16. Please provide a one to two paragraph description of your approach to this Principle.This question and similar questions relating to each of the other Principles are being asked for three reasons. The first reason is to gather details regarding signatory implementation for inclusion in the PRI annual report on progress. The second reason is to capture activities not captured directly by questions in the Reporting and Assessment Tool. The third reason is to provide context and details to support verification calls. | RCM has a dedicated Sustainability team that undertakes regular research on ESG issues. RCM's Sustainability Research process rates companies according to their management of a range of environmental, social and governance risks and according to their exploitation of new opportunities driven by social and environmental trends. Individual companies are scored on a variety of key performance indicators which we believe to be material to the company's business. These scores are used as part of the stock selection process for RCMs Sustainability Funds and are available to all investment decision makers. Within a wider context, a key driver for the team and the research process is to engage with our buy-side analysts on material ESG issues impacting their sectors and companies. On-going engagement between the Sustainable Research Team and our fundamental analysts (in day-to-day discussions, in our internal morning meeting, and in company meetings) provides the foundation for the generation of investment ideas. | |||||
| Integration of ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes of internally managed assets | ||||||
| 17. For what percentage of your internal assets under active management do you integrate RI/ESG issues into your internal investment decision-making processes (in percent)?(+/- 5% is sufficient.) | ||||||
| Listed equity (developed markets) | 2.5 | |||||
18. To what extent have you integrated RI/ESG issues into your internal active investment decision-making processes?(Applies only to investments that include integration of RI/ESG issues as indicated in Q17.)
| ||||||
| Listed equity (developed markets) | To a large extent | |||||
19. When forming investment views, to what extent does your organisation gather and analyse ESG information, including, where applicable, information obtained from engagement activities?(Applies only to investments that include integration of RI/ESG issues as indicated in Q17.)
| To a large extent | |||||
20. To what extent do portfolio managers or others making investment decisions in your organisation apply the ESG information and analysis available to them when constructing and managing portfolios?(Applies only to investments that include integration of RI/ESG issues as indicated in Q17.)
| To a large extent | |||||
21. To what extent do you have a process for improving the effectiveness of research and portfolio management processes with regards to ESG factors?(Applies only to investments that include integration of RI/ESG issues as indicated in Q17.)
| To a moderate extent | |||||
22. To what extent do you have a process for assessing and improving internal investment staff competency to incorporate RI/ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes?(Applies only to investments that include integration of RI/ESG issues as indicated in Q17.)
| To a moderate extent | |||||
| Integration of ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes of externally managed assets | ||||||
| 23. For what percentage of your external assets under management are RI/ESG issues integrated into the investment decision-making processes of your external investment managers (in percent, +/- 5% is sufficient)? | ||||||
| Listed equity (developed markets) | 0 | |||||
| Listed equity (emerging markets) | 0 | |||||
| Fixed income (not including corporate issuers) | 0 | |||||
24. To what extent have RI/ESG issues been integrated into the investment decision-making processes of your external investment managers?(Applies only to investments that include integration of RI/ESG issues as indicated in Q23.)
| ||||||
| Listed equity (developed markets) | Not applicable | |||||
| Listed equity (emerging markets) | Not applicable | |||||
| Fixed income (not including corporate issuers) | Not applicable | |||||
25. To what extent do you consider the capabilities of external investment managers to incorporate RI/ESG issues when searching for, selecting and retaining your external investment managers?(Applies only to investments that include integration of RI/ESG issues as indicated in Q23.)
| Not applicable | |||||
| Integration - final comments | ||||||
| 26. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 1 here. Please also describe any significant activities relating to Principle 1 that have not been captured by the questions above. | No Answer | |||||
| Principle 2 | ||||||
| Principle 2: We will be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices. | ||||||
| 27. Please provide a one to two paragraph description of your approach to this Principle. | RCM employs the services of Risk Metrics, a specialist voting agency, which makes recommendations and votes on our behalf. Where shareholder proposals concern social and environmental issues, and where our internal governance systems allow, these are referred to the RCM Sustainability Research team for review and recommendation. RCM does not have a formal corporate engagement strategy. However, as a research-driven, stock-picking asset manager, an in-depth knowledge of operations and strategy, obtained in part via regular meetings with company management, is essential. These meetings focus on a range of issues including ESG risks and opportunities. Corporate dialogue also provides an opportunity to highlight areas of company performance that we believe may present a risk to profitability, to exchange views on how ESG performance should be reported to shareholders, and to provide feedback on how a company is performing relative to its peers. | |||||
| (Proxy) voting - applies only to listed equity (developed markets), listed equity (emerging markets) and listed real estate or property. | ||||||
| 28. Do you have a (proxy) voting policy?(If 'Yes - disclosed publicly', please indicate how your (proxy) voting policy can be obtained- a URL would be sufficient. If answering no, please explain why not.) | Yes - internal document | |||||
| 29. Does your (proxy) voting policy address environmental, social, and governance issues? | ||||||
| Environmental | Yes | |||||
| Social | Yes | |||||
| Governance | Yes | |||||
| 30. Who decided how to vote on ballot items on behalf of your organisation in 2008?(Please check all that apply.) | Internal voting or governance group,External proxy voting service,Other (please specify): 'RCM Sustainability Research Team (on specific ESG issues)' | |||||
31. To what extent is information related to ballot items gathered and analysed before voting decisions are made?
| To a moderate extent | |||||
| 32. Do you ensure that voting is done in accordance with your voting instructions? | Yes for all | |||||
| 33. Do you inform companies of your rationale when you abstain or vote against management recommendations? | Yes for some | |||||
| 34. Please indicate how many resolutions you could have voted on and how many resolutions you did vote on in 2008:(include abstentions as votes where votes against are not possible, use the last available one year period if information for 2008 is not available or too difficult to gather, approximate numbers are acceptable. If you are unable to provide the exact number please provide an approximation of the percentage by entering 10 in the 'Resolutions could have voted on' column and your estimate in the 'Resolutions voted on' column. So if you voted on about 70% of the possible resolutions you would enter 7 in the 'Resolutions voted on' column. If you are not sure, please enter a 1 in all four fields.) | ||||||
| Domestic | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Foreign | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 35. For the listed equities that you manage, do you provide (proxy) voting services for your clients if they request them? | Yes - According to our own policy or client-specific policies | |||||
| 36. How does your securities lending program address voting? | We don't recall our shares for voting purposes | |||||
| 37. How many shareholder resolutions related to ESG issues did you file or co-file during 2008? | ||||||
| As lead filer | 0 | |||||
| As co-filer | 0 | |||||
| Planning to be lead filer in 2009 | 0 | |||||
| Planning to be co-filer in 2009 | 0 | |||||
| 38. Please explain why you did or did not file or co-file any shareholder resolutions related to RI/ESG issues during 2008: | We do not file shareholder resolutions. | |||||
| Engagement - general | ||||||
| 39. Who engaged with companies to seek ESG improvements in 2008?Please rank who engaged with companies according to their importance within your overall active ownership activities. You can only select Most, Second, Third and Fourth most important once each. Only the method you rank as 'Most important' will be scored for benchmarking purposes. If you wish to request that your other methods of engagement also be scored, please complete all the relevant sections and email the PRI at assessment@unpri.org when you submit your response. | ||||||
| Internal staff | Most important | |||||
| External investment manager(s) | Did not engage with companies in 2008 | |||||
| External engagement service provider(s) | Did not engage with companies in 2008 | |||||
| No Answer | |||||
| 40. Do you have a written engagement policy or other documents that direct engagement?(If 'Yes - disclosed publicly', please indicate how your policy can be obtained- a URL would be sufficient.) | No | |||||
| 41. If you have an engagement policy or other documents that direct engagement, what do they include?(Please check all that apply.) | No Answer | |||||
| 42. How many companies are you invested in? | 600 | |||||
| Engagement - internal staff | ||||||
43. To what extent do you have a process for identifying and prioritising ESG related engagement opportunities?
| To a small extent | |||||
44. How many portfolio companies did you engage with on ESG issues in 2008?
| ||||||
| Extensive engagement | 0 | |||||
| Moderate engagement | 0 | |||||
| Basic engagement | 55 | |||||
| 45. What proportion of your engagements addressed environmental, social or governance issues (in percent)?(One engagement may address more than one issue, so the three percentages need not add to 100%. For example, if you only had one engagement and it addressed environmental and governance issues then the answer would be 100% for environmental and 100% for governance.) | ||||||
| Environmental | 100 | |||||
| Social | 100 | |||||
| Governance | 100 | |||||
46. To what extent do you set ESG engagement objectives and attempt to evaluate your engagement success?
| Not at all | |||||
| 47. What percentage of engagements that ended in 2008 were deemed successful (in percent)?(Engagement success: a considerable part of objectives or milestones that were set when the engagement commenced were achieved.) | 0 | |||||
48. To what extent do you have a process for assessing and improving staff competency to act as active owners and incorporate ESG issues into ownership practices?
| To a small extent | |||||
| Engagement - external engagement service provider(s) | ||||||
49. This question is not applicable to you due to your response to Q39 regarding who engages with companies. How many portfolio companies did your external engagement service provider(s) engage with on ESG issues on your behalf in 2008?
| ||||||
| Extensive engagement | ||||||
| Moderate engagement | ||||||
| Basic engagement | ||||||
| 50. This question is not applicable to you due to your response to Q39 regarding who engages with companies. What proportion of your external engagement service provider(s)'s engagements on your behalf addressed environmental, social or governance issues (in percent)?(One engagement may address more than one issue, so the three percentages need not add to 100%. For example, if you only had one engagement and it addressed environmental and governance issues then the answer would be 100% for environmental and 100% for governance.) | ||||||
| Environmental | ||||||
| Social | ||||||
| Governance | ||||||
51. This question is not applicable to you due to your response to Q39 regarding who engages with companies. To what extent do you contribute to and assess the ESG engagement activities of your external engagement service provider(s)?
| No Answer | |||||
| Engagement - external investment manager(s) | ||||||
52. This question is not applicable to you due to your response to Q39 regarding who engages with companies. How many portfolio companies did your external investment manager(s)'s engage with on ESG issues on your behalf in 2008?
| ||||||
| Extensive engagement | ||||||
| Moderate engagement | ||||||
| Basic engagement | ||||||
| 53. This question is not applicable to you due to your response to Q39 regarding who engages with companies. What proportion of your external investment manager(s)'s engagements on your behalf addressed environmental, social or governance issues (in percent)? (One engagement may address more than one issue, so the three percentages need not add to 100%. For example, if you only had one engagement and it addressed environmental and governance issues then the answer would be 100% for environmental and 100% for governance.) | ||||||
| Environmental | ||||||
| Social | ||||||
| Governance | ||||||
54. This question is not applicable to you due to your response to Q39 regarding who engages with companies. To what extent do you contribute to and assess the ESG engagement activities of your external investment manager(s)?
| No Answer | |||||
| 55. This question is not applicable to you due to your response to Q39 regarding who engages with companies. Did you consider the capabilities of external investment managers to engage with companies on ESG issues on your behalf when searching for, selecting and retaining your investment managers? | No Answer | |||||
| Engagement - final comments | ||||||
| 56. What ESG issues were addressed in your or your service providers'engagement initiatives? (Please check all that apply.) | Activities in conflict zones,Benefits and compensation,Bribery/corruption,Climate change,Distribution of fair trade products,Environment,Governance,Health,Health and safety,HIV/AIDS,Human rights,Labour issues,Nanotechnology / novel technology,Other (please specify): 'Supply chain management' | |||||
| 57. What measures do you or your external service provider(s) use to assess the impact and success of engagement? | Not applicable. | |||||
| 58. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 2 here. Please also describe any significant activities relating to Principle 2 that have not been captured by the questions above. | No Answer | |||||
| Principle 3 | ||||||
| Principle 3: We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest. | ||||||
| 59. Please provide a one to two paragraph description of your approach to this Principle. | RCM does not have a formal method of seeking ESG disclosure from the companies in which we invest. However, regular meetings with company management do enable us to challenge companies on their ESG reporting and to provide feedback on how successfully a company is reporting relative to peers. RCM is also a member of the DVFA "Non-Financials" Committee which is a German socitey of investment professionsals specialist committee charged with identifying KPIs on material non-financial issues with a view to them becoming part of corporate reporting. The committee is co-headed by the fund manager for the RCM European Sustainability Fund, Felix Schnella. | |||||
| 60. Who asked investee companies (or other investment entities) to provide information about their ESG policies, practices or performance in 2008?(Please check all that apply.) | Internal staff | |||||
61. To what extent did you or your external engagement service provider(s) or your external investment manager(s) have a dialogue with investee companies (or other investment entities) regarding the production of standardized reporting about their ESG policies, practices or performance in 2008?('Standardized' could also include systematic reporting in areas where standardized reporting has not yet emerged.)
| ||||||
| Listed equity (developed market) | To a moderate extent | |||||
| Listed equity (emerging markets) | To a small extent | |||||
| Fixed income (not including corporate issuers) | Not at all | |||||
| 62. What formats of reporting on ESG issue policies, practices or performance have been requested? Please check all that apply. | Integrated with regular financial reports,Standalone corporate social responsibility or sustainability reporting,Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) | |||||
63. To what extent did you or your external engagement service provider(s) or your external investment manager(s) seek information from companies regarding their practices related to norms, standards, codes of conduct or international initiatives related to ESG issues in 2008?
| To a small extent | |||||
| 64. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 3 here. Please also describe any significant activities relating to Principle 3 that have not been captured by the questions above. | No Answer | |||||
| Principle 4 | ||||||
| Principle 4: We will promote acceptance and implementation of the Principles within the investment industry. | ||||||
| 65. Please provide a one to two paragraph description of your approach to this Principle. | RCM buys research from Innovest. We believe Innovest is one of the most sophisticated "non-financial" research providers when it comes to the integration of ESG risks and opportunities with analysis of future company performance. We will continue to support Innovest for as long as this is the case. RCM was also a founding member of the Enhanced Analytics Initiative and continues to support the EAI following its merger with the PRI. In addition to this, the RCM Sustainability Research has equal voting rights with the rest of the research and fund management platform at RCM and, as such, engages widely with the broker community to encourage the provision of long-term, sustainable, ESG research from the sell-side. | |||||
| 66. Did you consider RI/ESG requirements when searching for and selecting service providers in 2008 when applicable? | ||||||
| Investment consultant | Not applicable | |||||
| Proxy voting service provider | Yes, some of the time | |||||
| External overlay service provider | Yes, all of the time | |||||
| Investment research provider | Yes, some of the time | |||||
| 67. Have you included RI/ESG elements in the following? | ||||||
| Investment monitoring | No | |||||
| Incentive structure (internally managed) | No | |||||
| Incentive structure (externally managed) | Not applicable | |||||
| Contractual relationships with external investment managers | Not applicable | |||||
| Contractual relationships with other investment related service providers | Yes, some of the time | |||||
68. To what extent did you encourage your eligible service providers to become PRI signatories or consider RI/ESG factors in 2008?(Service providers include but are not limited to: external investment managers, investment consultants, proxy voting service providers, external engagement service providers, and investment research providers.)
| To a small extent | |||||
69. To what extent did you encourage your institutional clients to become PRI signatories or consider RI/ESG factors in 2008?
| To a small extent | |||||
70. To what extent did you encourage peer organisations to become PRI signatories or consider RI/ESG factors in 2008?
| To a small extent | |||||
| 71. Have you revisited any relationships with service providers in light of RI/ESG issue-related capabilities? | Yes | |||||
| 72. Does your broker evaluation process (which determines how you allocate commissions to brokers) include an ESG component and/or do you have a budget to pay for ESG broker research? | Yes | |||||
| 73A. What is your total investment research budget (including brokerage commissions intended to recognize research, in the same currency used in Q1) | 0 | |||||
| 73B. what proportion of your total investment research budget is allocated to ESG research (in percent)? | 5 | |||||
74. To what extent do you identify ESG issues and suggest them to brokers or other investment research providers for research?
| To a large extent | |||||
75. To what extent did you engage in dialogue, lobbying or initiatives pertaining to government policy and/or industry regulations (for example, stock exchanges or accounting standards) related to RI/ESG issues in 2008?
| To a large extent | |||||
| 76. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 4 here. Please also describe any significant activities relating to Principle 4 that have not been captured by the questions above. | Please note we cannot disclose our total investment research budget. | |||||
| Principle 5 | ||||||
| Principle 5: We will work together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the Principles. | ||||||
| 77. Please provide a one to two paragraph description of your approach to this Principle. | The RCM Sustainability Research team will participate in collaborative activities where we see some material benefit to our investment decision making process and therefore to our clients. | |||||
78. To what extent did you collaborate with other investors to improve your effectiveness in implementing each of the following Principles?
| ||||||
| Principle 1 | To a large extent | |||||
| Principle 2 | To a small extent | |||||
| Principle 3 | To a moderate extent | |||||
| Principle 4 | To a large extent | |||||
| 79. How did you use the PRI Engagement Clearinghouse in 2008?(Please check all that apply.) | Logged in during 2008 to use the Clearinghouse as a learning tool or to keep up to date on ongoing engagements | |||||
| 80. Did you participate in any of the following RI/ESG issue-related collaborations and/or associations? For those not listed, please use the "other" field:(Please check all that apply.) | Carbon Disclosure Project,Regional social investment organisation (for example SIF or UKSIF),United Nations Environmental Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI),Other (please specify): 'DVFA Committee Non-Financials' | |||||
81. Please indicate the three RI/ESG issue-related collaborative engagement initiatives and/or industry associations that you participated in most extensively and indicate how you did so:
| ||||||
| United Nations Environmental Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) | To a moderate extent | Member of the Asset Management Working Group. Participated in regular group calls and 2008 in-person meeting. Active in providing feedback for on-going projects including "Fiduciary II" to be launch in 2009. | ||||
| 1st Other specify from Q80 | To a large extent | Co-chairing the DVFA Non-Financials Committee. Working to define a set of Key Performance Indicators for corporate reporting of non-financial performance data in traditional corporate reports, focussing on ESG issues. | ||||
| Regional social investment organisation (for example SIF or UKSIF) | To a small extent | Regular attendance of UKSIF meetings and discussions. | ||||
| 82. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 5 here. Please also describe any significant activities relating to Principle 5 that have not been captured by the questions above. | No Answer | |||||
| Principle 6 | ||||||
| Principle 6: We will each report on our activities and progress towards implementing the Principles. | ||||||
| 83. Please provide a one to two paragraph description of your approach to this Principle. | To date, reporting on our activities has been focussed internally and directed at clients to keep them informed about our sustainability research and how it has influenced investment decision making. In 2009, we hope to be able to make these reports public via our internet. This will provide an external audience with a better idea of what RCM is doing to implement the Principles. | |||||
84. To what extent did you disclose (privately and/or publicly) your approach to incorporating ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes in 2008?(If you disclose publicly, please indicate how this disclosure can be obtained - a URL would be sufficient. If answering not at all, please explain why not.)
| To a moderate extent: '' | |||||
| 85. How did you disclose your (proxy) voting record in 2008?(Please select all that apply. If you disclose publicly, please indicate how this disclosure can be obtained - a URL would be sufficient. If answering not at all, please explain why not.) | Disclosed publicly: 'http://www.allianzglobalinvestors.de/ueber_uns/treuhaenderfunktion/treuhaenderfunktion.html',Some votes,No guidance explaining votes,Disclosed annually | |||||
86. To what extent did you disclose (privately and/or publicly) your RI/ESG issue-related engagement activities, results and progress in 2008?(If you disclose publicly, please indicate how this disclosure can be obtained - a URL would be sufficient. If answering not at all, please explain why not.)
| Not at all: 'We do not follow a formal engagement process. We might feedback to clients on the outcome from company meetings.' | |||||
| 87. Did you disclose (privately and/or publicly) RI/ESG activities, results and progress related to Principle 3, Principle 4 or Principle 5 in 2008?(If you disclose publicly, please indicate how this disclosure can be obtained - a URL would be sufficient. If answering not at all, please explain why not.) | ||||||
| Principle 3 | Yes - to clients or beneficiaries | |||||
| Principle 4 | Yes - to clients or beneficiaries | |||||
| Principle 5 | Yes - to clients or beneficiaries | |||||
| 88. How would you like to publish your responses to this PRI Reporting and Assessment tool?(Please check all that apply.) | Please automatically publish our responses to the reporting and assessment tool in full on the PRI website,We will send a URL to the PRI Secretariat which will link to the responsible investment section of our website (which will include a partial response to this reporting and assessment tool) | |||||
| 89. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 6 here. Please also describe any significant activities relating to Principle 6 that have not been captured by the questions above. | No Answer | |||||
| Closing Comments | ||||||
| 90. Please describe the benefits you have enjoyed as a result of signing the PRI: | In 2008 the PRI has become a useful place for accessing information about investment-relevant ESG information. For example, we found the series of webinars on US labour law reform to be particularly useful in understanding a potentially material business risk which seems to be very much overlooked by the rest of the market. The PRI has given us an additional level of access to other players in the ESG/RI space and thus further insight into international industry best practice. PRI interaction tools (emails, website, clearing house etc) have provided valuable information on the work of external research providers which could help us in our internal research endeavours and have given the RCM Sustainability Research team new ideas regarding our ESG integration potential. Becoming a PRI signatory has also enabled us to respond positively to asset owner's RFIs and RFPs that increasingly ask about status regarding the PRI. | |||||
| 91. What has your organisation changed as a direct result of becoming a PRI signatory? | Signing up to the PRI has given the RCM Sustainability Research team a more powerful voice in Group-wide decision making. It has helped us to promote a "joined up" approach across the company, rather than letting Europe lead and have other regions lag behind, as might have been the case in the past. | |||||
| 92. Did the financial market turmoil of 2008 cause you to change your approach to the consideration of ESG factors or active ownership? If it did, please explain how. | Fundamentally, no. We have always been and remain focussed on identifying material environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities which will help our investment professionals in their decision making process and thus generate outperformance on behalf of our clients. | |||||
| 93. What are the top three activities the PRI Secretariat could undertake to enhance and encourage further implementation of the PRI by current and prospective signatories? | ||||||
| 1. | Ultimately, should there be some kind of benchmark which asset owners and managers should have to achieve before they can claim to be PRI signatories, thus encouraging better performance/more commitment. | |||||
| 2. | n/a | |||||
| 3. | n/a | |||||
| 94. What are your top three PRI-related goals/priorities for 2009? | ||||||
| 1. | To continue to ask investment service providers to better integrate ESG factors into evolving research and analysis, especially following the closure of several key SRI teams by the sell-side. | |||||
| 2. | To better disclose how ESG issues are being integrated within our investment practices and to communicate with beneficiaries on our ESG research and commitment to the Principles. | |||||
| 3. | Implementing a global voting policy that fully integrates ESG analysis is going to be a key challenge for us in 2009. We are very encouraged to see that this is a topic already being addressed by the PRI. | |||||
| 95. What were your most significant achievements in 2008 in relation to your implementation of Principles? | ||||||
| Principle 1: We will incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes. | n/a | |||||
| Principle 2: We will be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices. | n/a | |||||
| Principle 3: We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest. | n/a | |||||
| Principle 4: We will promote acceptance and implementation of the Principles within the investment industry. | n/a | |||||
| Principle 5: We will work together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the Principles. | n/a | |||||
| Principle 6: We will each report on our activities and progress towards implementing the Principles. | n/a | |||||
| 96. What were your biggest barriers in 2008 with relation to your implementation of the Principles? | ||||||
| Principle 1: We will incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes. | n/a | |||||
| Principle 2: We will be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices. | Implementing a global voting policy that fully integrates ESG analysis is going to be a key challenge for us in 2009. We are very encouraged to see that this is a topic already being addressed by the PRI. | |||||
| Principle 3: We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest. | n/a | |||||
| Principle 4: We will promote acceptance and implementation of the Principles within the investment industry. | n/a | |||||
| Principle 5: We will work together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the Principles. | n/a | |||||
| Principle 6: We will each report on our activities and progress towards implementing the Principles. | n/a | |||||
| 97. Please indicate which principle you find the most difficult to implement and the principle you find the least difficult to implement: | ||||||
| Most difficult | Principle 3 | |||||
| Least difficult | Principle 1 | |||||