| Organisational Overview | |||
| 1. What were your organisation's total assets under management as of 31 December 2007 (in millions)? | 139136 | ||
| Please select currency | British pound (GBP) | ||
| 1a. If 'Other' was selected, please specify the other currency here | No Answer | ||
| 4. Please provide an overview of your asset mix as of 31 December 2007 (in %): | |||
| Listed equity (developed market, active) | 59.5 | ||
| Listed equity (developed market, passive) | 0 | ||
| Listed equity (emerging market, active) | 9.7 | ||
| Listed equity (emerging market, passive) | 0 | ||
| Fixed income - developed markets | 13.7 | ||
| Fixed income - emerging markets | 0 | ||
| Real estate or property | 7.1 | ||
| Private equity | 0 | ||
| Hedge fund | 2.3 | ||
| Infrastructure | 0 | ||
| Currency | 0 | ||
| Commodities | 0 | ||
| Cash | 2.7 | ||
| Other (Please specify): emerging market debt&structured products | 5 | ||
| 5. Please indicate what percentage of your assets are managed internally and what percentage are managed externally (in %): | |||
| Listed equity (developed market, active) | 100 | 0 | |
| Listed equity (developed market, passive) | 0 | 0 | |
| Listed equity (emerging market, active) | 100 | 0 | |
| Listed equity (emerging market, passive) | 0 | 0 | |
| Fixed income - developed markets | 100 | 0 | |
| Fixed income - emerging markets | 0 | 0 | |
| Real estate or property | 100 | 0 | |
| Private equity | 0 | 0 | |
| Hedge fund | 100 | 0 | |
| Infrastructure | 0 | 0 | |
| Currency | 0 | 0 | |
| Commodities | 0 | 0 | |
| Cash | 100 | 0 | |
| Other (Please specify): emerging market debt&structured products | 100 | 0 | |
| 6. Please provide the following contact details for your main PRI contact: | |||
| URL for webpage outlining the specific services and products your organisation has to assist signatories in fulfilling their commitments to the Principles | www.schroders.com | ||
| Principle 1 | |||
| 8. Do you have a statement that makes specific reference to the integration of responsible investment (RI) or environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues within investment decision making and ownership practices? | Yes, it is an independent RI/ESG statement | ||
| 9. In what year were RI/ESG issues first formally addressed in a policy statement (integrated or independent)? | 1998 | ||
| 10. Has your statement that makes specific reference to the integration of RI or ESG issues been disclosed publicly? | No | ||
| 11. Please indicate how this statement that makes specific reference to the integration of RI or ESG issues can be obtained (a URL would be sufficient): | Through written request. | ||
| 12. For what percentage of your internal assets under management do you integrate RI/ESG issues into your internal investment decision-making processes? (in %) | |||
| Listed equity (developed market, active) | 60 | ||
| Listed equity (emerging market, active) | 0 | ||
| Fixed income - developed markets | 0 | ||
| Real estate or property | 100 | ||
| Hedge fund | 0 | ||
| Cash | 0 | ||
| emerging market debt&structured products | 0 | ||
| 13. To what extent have you integrated RI/ESG issues into your internal investment decision-making processes? | |||
| Listed equity (developed market, active) | To a moderate extent | ||
| Listed equity (emerging market, active) | Not at all | ||
| Fixed income - developed markets | Not at all | ||
| Real estate or property | To a moderate extent | ||
| Hedge fund | Not at all | ||
| emerging market debt&structured products | Not at all | ||
| 16. What proportion of your assets involve screening out or excluding stocks or sectors based on ethical (rather than long-term financial) criteria? (in %) | 6.6 | ||
| 17. Do you have any staff dedicated to RI/ESG issue analysis and/or implementation? | |||
| Investment analyst | 0 | 0 | |
| Research analyst | 4 | 0 | |
| RI/ESG issue policy advisor | 0 | 0 | |
| (proxy) Voting specialist | 1 | 0 | |
| Engagement specialist | 0 | 0 | |
| Portfolio manager | 0 | 0 | |
| Other (Please specify): | 0 | 0 | |
| 18. Which Board committee or other executive body has overall responsibility for RI/ESG issues? | General management Committee | ||
| 19. Do you assess the capabilities of internal investment staff to incorporate RI/ESG issues? | No | ||
| 20. Do you assess the capabilities of external investment managers to incorporate RI/ESG issues? | No Answer | ||
| 21. Approximately what percentage of your internal non-ESG-specialist investment management staff received RI/ESG training in 2007? (in %) | 7 | ||
| 22. What forms of RI/ESG training or awareness raising have been invested in, encouraged or provided for internal staff (investment and other)? | Informal internal training,Formal internal training,Conferences | ||
| 23. Did you support the development of nonproprietary RI/ESG issue-related tools, metrics, analysis or academic research in 2007? | To a moderate extent | ||
| 24. Please indicate how the results of nonproprietary RI/ESG issue-related tools, metrics, analysis or academic research development you supported can be obtained if they have been disclosed publicly (a URL would be sufficient): | We initiated a research report on the risks of climate change to the retails sector in association with Forum for the Future. We have provided input into the development of the Utilities Disclosure Framework guidelines for the IIGCC. We have worked with other Fund Managers on the development of sector specific notes with EUROSIF. We sit on the technical committee for the Responsible Investment Metrics. We are advisors to the Carbon Disclosure Project. | ||
| 25. Have you advocated/supported/ encouraged/participated in RI/ESG issue-related industry-wide training for investment professionals during 2007? | Had dialogue or exchanges with peers | ||
| 26. What was your most significant achievement in 2007 in relation to your implementation of Principle 1? | Launchin the Global Climate Change fund which demonstrated the succesful integration of a key environmental challenge into the investment process. | ||
| 27. What was your biggest barrier in 2007 with relation to your implementation of Principle 1? | Defining what integration is and how to measure it. | ||
| 28. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 1 here. | No further comment | ||
| Principle 2 | |||
| 29. To what extent did you employ the following approaches in your 2007 active ownership strategy for listed equities? | |||
| (Proxy) voting | To a large extent | ||
| Direct engagement conducted privately | To a large extent | ||
| Direct engagement conducted publicly | To a small extent | ||
| Collaborative engagement | To a large extent | ||
| Filing shareholder resolutions | Not at all | ||
| Co-filing shareholder resolutions | Not at all | ||
| Other (Please specify): | No Answer | ||
| 30. To what extent did you employ the following approaches in your 2007 active ownership strategy for all asset classes other than listed equity? | |||
| (Proxy) voting | Not at all | ||
| Direct engagement conducted privately | To a small extent | ||
| Direct engagement conducted publicly | Not at all | ||
| Collaborative engagement | Not at all | ||
| Other (Please specify): | Not at all | ||
| 31. Do you have a (proxy) voting policy? | Yes - disclosed publicly | ||
| 32. To what extent does your (proxy) voting policy direct action on ESG issues? For each issue, please indicate the extent of direction. | |||
| Environmental | To a small extent | ||
| Social | To a small extent | ||
| Governance | To a large extent | ||
| 33. Does your (proxy) voting policy apply to all voting regions (where possible)? | Yes | ||
| 34. Please indicate how your (proxy) voting policy can be obtained (a URL would be sufficient): | By written request | ||
| 35. Do you ensure that voting is done in accordance with your (proxy) voting policy? | Yes for all | ||
| 36. What percentage of total votes cast were against management? (in %) | 8.1 | ||
| 37. What percentage of shareholder resolutions relating to environmental, social or governance issues was supported? (in %) | |||
| Environmental | 12 | ||
| Social | 19 | ||
| Governance | 0 | ||
| 38. Do you conduct (proxy) voting on behalf of your clients? | Yes - According to our own policy or client-specific policies | ||
| 39. How many shareholder resolutions related to RI/ESG issues did you participate in during 2007? | |||
| As lead filer | |||
| As co-filer | |||
| Planning to be lead filer in 2008 | |||
| Planning to be co-filer in 2008 | |||
| 40. How were portfolio companies engaged with in 2007? Please check all that apply. | Internal staff engaged portfolio companies directly,Internal staff engaged portfolio companies collaboratively | ||
| 41. Do you systematically bring RI/ESG issue-related engagement opportunities to your clients? | Not at all | ||
| 43. How many portfolio companies did you engage directly/were engaged on your behalf on ESG issues in 2007? | |||
| Environmental | 34 | 0 | 0 |
| Social | 35 | 0 | 0 |
| Governance | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44. What RI/ESG-related issues were addressed in your shareowner engagement initiatives? Please check all that apply. | Benefits and compensation,Climate change,Environment,Governance,Health and safety,Labour issues | ||
| 45. How were RI/ESG issue-related engagement targets and topics identified? Please check all that apply. | Sector exposure,Risk profile,Focus issue,Ad hoc/reactive | ||
| 46. Do you set RI/ESG issue-related engagement objectives and attempt to evaluate success? | To a large extent | ||
| 47. Have you sought evidence relating to the effectiveness of your active ownership strategy? Please check all that apply. | Governance practices changed,Improved disclosure | ||
| 48. What was your most significant achievement in 2007 in relation to your implementation of Principle 2? | Being able to monitor continued changes in corporate behaviour/performance on issues we have discussed with a company. | ||
| 49. What was your biggest barrier in 2007 with relation to your implementation of Principle 2? | Being unable to determine what the driver behind a specific change in corporate behaviour/performance is. | ||
| 50. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 2 here. | This section needs to define what engagement is, as it is not all about creating change, and should voting be included in this or as a seperate section? | ||
| Principle 3 | |||
| 51. Have you asked that investee companies (or other investment entities) produce standardized reporting on their RI/ESG issue policies, practices or performance (within annual financial reports or other formats)? | To a large extent | ||
| 52. What format of standardized reporting on RI/ESG issue policies, practices or performance have you requested? | Standalone corporate social responsibility or sustainability reporting,Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) | ||
| 53. Have you provided feedback to investee companies (or other investment entities) on their reporting on RI/ESG issues? | To a moderate extent | ||
| 54. Have you sought information from companies regarding their adoption of/adherence to norms, standards, codes of conduct or international initiatives related to RI/ESG issues? | |||
| Adoption | To a small extent | ||
| Adherence | To a small extent | ||
| 55. Which norms, standards, codes of conduct or international initiatives related to RI/ESG issues have you sought information about from companies, with regard to their adoption of/adherence to? | International Labour Organization standards,Universal Declaration of Human Rights | ||
| 56. What was your most significant achievement in 2007 in relation to your implementation of Principle 3? | We were asked and accepted a role as adviser to the Carbon Disclosure Project, which goes above and beyond our commitments as signatory to the CDP. | ||
| 57. What was your biggest barrier in 2007 with relation to your implementation of Principle 3? | Understanding which international norms are relevant to which company. | ||
| 58. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 3 here. | We recognise that different norms will have more relevance to different companies, and therefore reflect this in our analysis and engagement. | ||
| Principle 4 | |||
| 59. Are you considering RI/ESG requirements when searching for and selecting the following? | |||
| Investment consultant | Not applicable | ||
| Proxy voting | Not applicable | ||
| Engagement overlay | Not applicable | ||
| Investment research | Yes | ||
| Internal operations (for example, purchasing, travel, office space etc.) | Yes | ||
| Other (Please specify): | Not applicable | ||
| 60. Have you linked the following to performance on RI/ESG issues? | |||
| Investment monitoring | No | ||
| Incentive structure (internal investments) | No | ||
| Incentive structure (external investments) | No | ||
| Contractual relationships with external investment managers | Not applicable | ||
| 61. Are the default pension funds or retirement plans offered to your employees also signatories to the PRI? | No | ||
| 62. To what extent do you encourage your service providers to become PRI signatories? | Not applicable | ||
| 63. To what extent do you encourage your clients to become PRI signatories? | Not at all | ||
| 64. To what extent do you encourage peer organisations to become PRI signatories? | To a small extent | ||
| 65. Do you have evidence that you have played a role in the improved integration of RI/ESG issues by external investment managers? | No Answer | ||
| 66. Does your broker evaluation process include an ESG component or do you have a budget to pay cash for ESG broker research? | Yes | ||
| 67. Have you revisited any relationships with service providers in light of RI/ESG issue-related capabilities? | Yes | ||
| 68. Have you engaged in dialogue, lobbying or initiatives pertaining to government policy and/or industry regulations (for example, stock exchanges, accounting standards) related to RI/ESG issues in 2007? | To a moderate extent | ||
| 69. What was your most significant achievement in 2007 in relation to your implementation of Principle 4? | we were signatories to the IIGCC statement to the Bali conference and to the Climate Change Leaders Group statement to the Bali conference. | ||
| 70. What was your biggest barrier in 2007 with relation to your implementation of Principle 4? | Determining whether adoption of the UNPRI would affect are historical SRI process and whether it would make any requirements on us that we are unable to fulfill. | ||
| 71. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 4 here. | We only became signatories to the UN PRI in 2007, so weren't attempting to implement all the principles. | ||
| Principle 5 | |||
| 72. Did you use the PRI Engagement Clearinghouse in 2007? | Planning to in 2008 | ||
| 73. Did your use of the clearinghouse result in subsequent action or collaboration with other signatories? | No Answer | ||
| 74. Please elaborate on how the PRI Engagement Clearinghouse could be made more useful: | We haven't made regular use of it yet, so are unable to comment at this stage. | ||
| 75. To what extent do you participate in the following RI/ESG issue-related collaborative engagement initiatives and/or industry associations? For those not listed, please use the "other" field: | Carbon Disclosure Project,Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI),Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC),International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN),Regional social investment organisation (for example SIF or UKSIF) | ||
| 76. 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: | |||
| Carbon Disclosure Project | We are special advisors to this initiative which goes beyond the requirements of pure membership. | ||
| Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) | We sit on the steering committee for the policy programme. As well as being involved in the development of the IIGCC's electric utility disclosure framework guidelines. | ||
| Regional social investment organisation (for example SIF or UKSIF) | We worked with EUROSIF and other investors on the development of sector ESG reviews, for other investors and asset owners. | ||
| 77. What was your most significant achievement in 2007 in relation to your implementation of Principle 5? | We believe that all of our work with investors has helped to continue the integration of ESG issues into the overall investment process. | ||
| 78. What was your biggest barrier in 2007 with relation to your implementation of Principle 5? | Collaboration remains a challenge in having to reach consensus views and ensure that equal amounts of work are contributed by all parties. | ||
| 79. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 5 here. | Why does te EAI have two different ratings? (e.g. full member and associate member?). As participation in many other initiatives can also have different levels of involvement. | ||
| Principle 6 | |||
| 80. Have you disclosed how RI/ESG issues are integrated into your investment processes? | Yes - to clients or beneficiaries | ||
| 81. Please indicated how this disclosure of how RI/ESG issues are integrated into your investment processes can be obtained (a URL would be sufficient): | By written request | ||
| 82. To what extent do you disclose your annual (proxy) voting record? | Not at all | ||
| 83. Please indicated how your (proxy) voting record can be obtained (a URL would be sufficient): | No Answer | ||
| 84. Do you systematically report (privately and/or publicly) on your RI/ESG issue-related engagement activities, results and progress? | To a large extent | ||
| 85. Please indicate how your reporting on RI/ESG issue-related engagement activities, results and progress can be obtained (if it is publicly available, a URL would be sufficient): | written reports sent to clients and available on request. | ||
| 88. Are you undertaking any additional efforts to raise awareness of the PRI and RI/ESG issues amongst stakeholders? | Not at all | ||
| 89. What evidence do you have of the impact on external investment manager practices? Please check those that apply. | No Answer | ||
| 90. Have you sought to determine what impact your overall RI/ESG issue-related efforts (voting and engagement, investment decision making, disclosure, etc.) have had on corporate behavior or performance? | To a small extent | ||
| 91. Have you sought to determine what impact your RI/ESG issue-related approach has had on the performance of your portfolio? | Not at all | ||
| 92. Have you sought to determine what impact your RI/ESG issue-related efforts, requests and guidance have had on the consideration of RI/ESG issues by your external service providers excluding external investment managers (for example: research providers, consultants, etc.)? | Not at all | ||
| 93. Do you report on progress and/or achievements relating to the PRI or RI, and how would you like to publish your response to this assessment? | Please automatically publish our responses to the reporting and assessment tool in full on the PRI website | ||
| 94. What was your most significant achievement in 2007 in relation to your implementation of Principle 6? | we have improved our review process for requests for change from an annual to a quarterly process and report on this to clients in quarterly reports. | ||
| 95. What was your biggest barrier in 2007 with relation to your implementation of Principle 6? | We do not have a dedicated internet site for responsible Investors for stakeholders to review, which will be implemented in 2008. | ||
| 96. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 6 here. | none to add. | ||
| Emerging Markets | |||
| 97. To what extent have you actively thought about how to integrate RI/ESG issues within investment decision making and ownership practices with regards to emerging markets investments? | To a small extent | ||
| 98. Please describe your activities with regards to integrating RI/ESG issues within investment decision making and ownership practices with regards to emerging markets investments. | we have been reviewing some companies involvement in Darfur and this has impacted on some of our investment decisions. | ||
| 99. To what extent do you believe the integration of ESG issues in emerging markets is as relevant as the integration of ESG issues in other markets? | To the same extent | ||
| 100. To what extent did you employ the following approaches in your 2007 active ownership strategy in emerging markets? | |||
| (Proxy) voting | To a large extent | ||
| Direct engagement conducted privately | Not at all | ||
| Direct engagement conducted publicly | Not at all | ||
| Collaborative engagement | Not at all | ||
| Filing shareholder resolutions | Not at all | ||
| Co-filing shareholder resolutions | Not at all | ||
| Other (Please specify): | No Answer | ||
| 101. To what extent have you developed a comprehensive RI/ESG engagement capability regarding business activities in emerging markets? | Not at all | ||
| 102. Please list the three most often addressed RI/ESG-related issues in your shareholder engagement initiatives in emerging markets? | |||
| 1. | |||
| 2. | |||
| 3. | |||
| 103. Have you sought information from companies regarding their adoption of/adherence to norms, standards, codes of conduct or international initiatives related to RI/ESG issues in emerging markets? | |||
| Adoption | Not at all | ||
| Adherence | Not at all | ||
| 104. Do you take RI/ESG considerations into account when selecting and approving emerging markets external investment managers? | Not at all | ||
| 105. Do your consultants factor RI/ESG issues into their short listing of emerging markets external investment managers? | Not at all | ||
| 106. Do you have evidence that you have played a role in the improved integration of RI/ESG issues by external investment managers investing in emerging markets? | Not at all | ||
| 107. To what extent have you worked together with other investors to improve the effectiveness of implementing the PRI in emerging markets? | Not at all | ||
| 108. Are you undertaking any additional efforts to raise awareness of RI/ESG issues in emerging markets? | Not at all | ||
| 109. Have you sought to determine what impact your RI/ESG issue-related efforts (voting and engagement, investment decision making, disclosure, etc.) have had on corporate behaviour or performance in emerging markets? | Not at all | ||
| 110. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to the PRI in emerging markets here. | No Answer | ||
| 111. What is your top PRI-related goal/priority for emerging markets in 2008? | No Answer | ||
| Closing Comments | |||
| 112. Why did your organisation join the PRI? | We already had an established responsible investment process in place which is in compliance with the PRI. We believe that becoming signatories to the PRI is in our and (most importantly) our clients interests. | ||
| 113. Please describe the benefits you have enjoyed as a result of signing the PRI: | We are new signatories to the PRI, but would expect that the development of communication channels with other responsible investors and the regular assessment of our own process will help to continue to develop our approach to responsible investment and to develop responsible investment in general. | ||
| 114. To what extent do you believe the PRI has succeeded in changing investor behaviour and/or raising awareness or capacity on RI/ESG issues? Do you have any examples you could share? | we believe it has increased the pressure on fund managers to develop responsible investment processes, due to increased client pressure (which we have noted there was a significant increase in questions regarding PRI during 2007). | ||
| 115. 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. | A feedback session, as it is quite onerous at present, and there may be ways to simplify it. | ||
| 2. | To develop definitions for engagement and integration, or an acknowledgement of what these may entail. | ||
| 3. | To ensure that there is a fair representation of views (e.g. see our comments regarding EAI and member status and affiliate member status). | ||
| 116. What are your top three PRI-related goals/priorities for 2008? | |||
| 1. | Development of RI internet site | ||
| 2. | continued integration of ESG into the investment process | ||
| 3. | reviewing and refining our engagement process. | ||
| 117. Please rank the six principles from most difficult to implement to least difficult to implement: | |||
| Most difficult 1 | Principle 3 | ||
| 2 | Principle 5 | ||
| 3 | Principle 1 | ||
| 4 | Principle 4 | ||
| 5 | Principle 2 | ||
| Least difficult 6 | Principle 6 | ||