| Organisational Overview | |||
| 1. What were your organisation's total assets under management as of 31 December 2007 (in millions)? | 109050 | ||
| 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) | 15 | ||
| Listed equity (developed market, passive) | 16.4 | ||
| Listed equity (emerging market, active) | 0.1 | ||
| Listed equity (emerging market, passive) | 0.2 | ||
| Fixed income - developed markets | 54 | ||
| Fixed income - emerging markets | 0.3 | ||
| Real estate or property | 0 | ||
| Private equity | 0 | ||
| Hedge fund | 0 | ||
| Infrastructure | 0 | ||
| Currency | 0 | ||
| Commodities | 0 | ||
| Cash | 14 | ||
| Other (Please specify): | 0 | ||
| 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) | 100 | 0 | |
| Listed equity (emerging market, active) | 100 | 0 | |
| Listed equity (emerging market, passive) | 100 | 0 | |
| Fixed income - developed markets | 100 | 0 | |
| Fixed income - emerging markets | 100 | 0 | |
| Real estate or property | 0 | 0 | |
| Private equity | 0 | 0 | |
| Hedge fund | 0 | 0 | |
| Infrastructure | 0 | 0 | |
| Currency | 0 | 0 | |
| Commodities | 0 | 0 | |
| Cash | 100 | 0 | |
| Other (Please specify): | 0 | 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 | http://www.insightinvestment.com/Documents/responsibility/Reports/Putting_Principles_into_Practice_FINAL.pdf | ||
| 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 integrated into a broader statement | ||
| 9. In what year were RI/ESG issues first formally addressed in a policy statement (integrated or independent)? | 2002 | ||
| 10. Has your statement that makes specific reference to the integration of RI or ESG issues been disclosed publicly? | Yes | ||
| 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): | http://www.insightinvestment.com/responsibility/policy/policy.asp | ||
| 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) | 100 | ||
| Listed equity (developed market, passive) | 100 | ||
| Listed equity (emerging market, active) | 100 | ||
| Listed equity (emerging market, passive) | 100 | ||
| Fixed income - developed markets | 100 | ||
| Fixed income - emerging markets | 100 | ||
| Cash | 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 large extent | ||
| Listed equity (developed market, passive) | To a large extent | ||
| Listed equity (emerging market, active) | To a large extent | ||
| Listed equity (emerging market, passive) | To a moderate extent | ||
| Fixed income - developed markets | To a large extent | ||
| Fixed income - emerging markets | To a large extent | ||
| 16. What proportion of your assets involve screening out or excluding stocks or sectors based on ethical (rather than long-term financial) criteria? (in %) | 0.27 | ||
| 17. Do you have any staff dedicated to RI/ESG issue analysis and/or implementation? | |||
| Investment analyst | 0 | 0 | |
| Research analyst | 0 | 0 | |
| RI/ESG issue policy advisor | 0 | 0 | |
| (proxy) Voting specialist | 0 | 0 | |
| Engagement specialist | 0 | 0 | |
| Portfolio manager | 0 | 0 | |
| Other (Please specify): All 5 of the IR team cover all aspects above. We do not split it out this way. | 0 | 5 | |
| 18. Which Board committee or other executive body has overall responsibility for RI/ESG issues? | The IR team reports to the Head of Equities. The CEO signs off and owns the IR / CG policy | ||
| 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 %) | 100 | ||
| 22. What forms of RI/ESG training or awareness raising have been invested in, encouraged or provided for internal staff (investment and other)? | Regular briefings on key issues,Other (please specify): 'IR team attends fund management teams morning and team meetings; have ongoing ad-hoc discussions with analysts and fund managers about ESG issues' | ||
| 23. Did you support the development of nonproprietary RI/ESG issue-related tools, metrics, analysis or academic research in 2007? | To a large 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): | http://www.insightinvestment.com/responsibility/engagement/engagement.asp | ||
| 25. Have you advocated/supported/ encouraged/participated in RI/ESG issue-related industry-wide training for investment professionals during 2007? | Spoke at or attended conferences,Had dialogue or exchanges with peers,Instructed at universities or colleges | ||
| 26. What was your most significant achievement in 2007 in relation to your implementation of Principle 1? | |||
| 27. What was your biggest barrier in 2007 with relation to your implementation of Principle 1? | |||
| 28. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 1 here. | |||
| 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 large 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 | Not at all | ||
| Direct engagement conducted publicly | To a large extent | ||
| Collaborative engagement | To a large extent | ||
| Other (Please specify): | No Answer | ||
| 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 | Not at all | ||
| Social | Not at all | ||
| Governance | To a large extent | ||
| 33. Does your (proxy) voting policy apply to all voting regions (where possible)? | Some (please specify regional differences): 'UK, Europe' | ||
| 34. Please indicate how your (proxy) voting policy can be obtained (a URL would be sufficient): | http://www.insightinvestment.com/responsibility/policy/policy.asp | ||
| 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 %) | 0.76 | ||
| 37. What percentage of shareholder resolutions relating to environmental, social or governance issues was supported? (in %) | |||
| Environmental | 0 | ||
| Social | 0 | ||
| Governance | 99.24 | ||
| 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 required | ||
| 43. How many portfolio companies did you engage directly/were engaged on your behalf on ESG issues in 2007? | |||
| Environmental | 142 | 27 | 0 |
| Social | 0 | 47 | 0 |
| Governance | 7 | 62 | 0 |
| 44. What RI/ESG-related issues were addressed in your shareowner 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,Human rights,Labour issues,Nanotechnology / novel technology,Other (please specify): 'Supply chain management, sustainable homes' | ||
| 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,NGO or union campaign | ||
| 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,(Written) commitment to improve a particular ESG issue,Improved disclosure,Collaborative work with a company on a specific ESG issue,Other evidence of improvement in investee company RI/ESG performance due to our activities | ||
| 48. What was your most significant achievement in 2007 in relation to your implementation of Principle 2? | |||
| 49. What was your biggest barrier in 2007 with relation to your implementation of Principle 2? | |||
| 50. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 2 here. | |||
| 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? | Integrated with regular financial reports,Standalone corporate social responsibility or sustainability reporting,Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP),Other (please specify): 'Our own reporting guidelines linked to best practice frameworks we have developed, e.g. for sustainable homes, conumer health and obesity and climate change, some of which are seen as industry standards now.' | ||
| 53. Have you provided feedback to investee companies (or other investment entities) on their reporting on RI/ESG issues? | To a large 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 large extent | ||
| Adherence | To a large 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? | Equator Principles,Universal Declaration of Human Rights,Other (please specify): 'Our own guidelines, e.g. for sustainable homes, consumer health, climate change etc' | ||
| 56. What was your most significant achievement in 2007 in relation to your implementation of Principle 3? | We provided extensive feedback to 160 companies on the quality of their reporting. | ||
| 57. What was your biggest barrier in 2007 with relation to your implementation of Principle 3? | None. | ||
| 58. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 3 here. | Nothing to add. | ||
| Principle 4 | |||
| 59. Are you considering RI/ESG requirements when searching for and selecting the following? | |||
| Investment consultant | Not applicable | ||
| Proxy voting | Yes | ||
| Engagement overlay | Not applicable | ||
| Investment research | Yes | ||
| Internal operations (for example, purchasing, travel, office space etc.) | Not applicable | ||
| Other (Please specify): | No | ||
| 60. Have you linked the following to performance on RI/ESG issues? | |||
| Investment monitoring | Not applicable | ||
| Incentive structure (internal investments) | No | ||
| Incentive structure (external investments) | Not applicable | ||
| 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? | Planning to in 2008 | ||
| 64. To what extent do you encourage peer organisations to become PRI signatories? | To a large 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? | No | ||
| 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 large extent | ||
| 69. What was your most significant achievement in 2007 in relation to your implementation of Principle 4? | We wrote to 24 other investment managers to encourage them to join the PRI. | ||
| 70. What was your biggest barrier in 2007 with relation to your implementation of Principle 4? | Nothing to add | ||
| 71. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 4 here. | Nothing to add | ||
| Principle 5 | |||
| 72. Did you use the PRI Engagement Clearinghouse in 2007? | Both used and posted to it | ||
| 73. Did your use of the clearinghouse result in subsequent action or collaboration with other signatories? | Yes | ||
| 74. Please elaborate on how the PRI Engagement Clearinghouse could be made more useful: | It would be much easier if submissions indicated which countries or markets they apply to, have a date that it is relevant to / from, and the information is generally offered in a more categorised form, so that one doesn't have to trawl through the whole list to find something that might be relevant. | ||
| 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),United Nations Environmental Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI),Other (please specify): 'ABI, GRI' | ||
| 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: | |||
| United Nations Environmental Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) | In 2007, we sat on the working groups for human rights (and are co-chair), biodiversity and ecosystems, asset management and water. | ||
| Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) | Member of the Steering Committee; led drafting of IIGCC policy statements, spoke at external conferences for IIGCC. | ||
| Other (please specify) | Member of the Investment Committee and contribute to ABI's work on CG and climate change. | ||
| 77. What was your most significant achievement in 2007 in relation to your implementation of Principle 5? | |||
| 78. What was your biggest barrier in 2007 with relation to your implementation of Principle 5? | |||
| 79. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 5 here. | |||
| Principle 6 | |||
| 80. Have you disclosed how RI/ESG issues are integrated into your investment processes? | Yes - to clients or beneficiaries and the public | ||
| 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): | We have a dedicated section of our website that explains our approach to integration in detail. http://www.insightinvestment.com/responsibility/integration/investment_integration.asp | ||
| 82. To what extent do you disclose your annual (proxy) voting record? | Disclose votes and guidance explaining votes | ||
| 83. Please indicated how your (proxy) voting record can be obtained (a URL would be sufficient): | www.insightinvestment.com/responsibility/reporting/reporting.asp | ||
| 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): | www.insightinvestment.com/responsibility/reporting/reporting.asp | ||
| 88. Are you undertaking any additional efforts to raise awareness of the PRI and RI/ESG issues amongst stakeholders? | To a large extent | ||
| 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 large 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.)? | To a large extent | ||
| 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,We publicly reported on our PRI or RI achievements in 2007 (outside of publishing part or all of this assessment) | ||
| 94. What was your most significant achievement in 2007 in relation to your implementation of Principle 6? | |||
| 95. What was your biggest barrier in 2007 with relation to your implementation of Principle 6? | |||
| 96. Please add any overall comments and clarifications related to Principle 6 here. | |||
| 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 large 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. | Where ES themes we research apply to these markets, they are fed into our standard investment analysis. | ||
| 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 | Not at all | ||
| Direct engagement conducted privately | Not Applicable | ||
| Direct engagement conducted publicly | To a small extent | ||
| Collaborative engagement | Planning to in 2008 | ||
| 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. | Operations in difficult countries, e.g. Sudan, Zimbabwe, Kenya | ||
| 2. | Bribery and corruption | ||
| 3. | Environmental issues | ||
| 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 | To a large extent | ||
| Adherence | To a large extent | ||
| 104. Do you take RI/ESG considerations into account when selecting and approving emerging markets external investment managers? | No Answer | ||
| 105. Do your consultants factor RI/ESG issues into their short listing of emerging markets external investment managers? | No Answer | ||
| 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? | No Answer | ||
| 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. | Clearly, as investors, we can influence the practices of companies listed in developed markets which have operations in developing markets, which are also important. | ||
| 111. What is your top PRI-related goal/priority for emerging markets in 2008? | None. Not a priority given the tiny fraction of our investments in those markets. | ||
| Closing Comments | |||
| 112. Why did your organisation join the PRI? | We have a long-standing commitment to responsible investment. We believe strongly that the governance practices companies adopt and how they manage environmental and social issues can affect their financial performance. In our view, all asset owners and investment managers should join PRI to demonstrate that they take these factors into account. | ||
| 113. Please describe the benefits you have enjoyed as a result of signing the PRI: | Few direct benefits but we are pleased to support an organisation promoting RI around the world. | ||
| 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? | To date we do not see any evidence of this. We do not see existing or prospective clients asking about for RI capablity as part of their investment management contracts or RFPs. | ||
| 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. | To set minimum performance standards that signatories have to achieve in order to continue to be a signatory, in other words, a mechanism to de-list those who do very little to implement the Principles. | ||
| 2. | To encourage many more major European pension funds to sign up to the PRI. | ||
| 3. | Encourage current signatories to publish much more about their engagement activities. | ||
| 116. What are your top three PRI-related goals/priorities for 2008? | |||
| 1. | To encourage our clients to become PRI signatories. | ||
| 2. | To extend our voting and ESG engagement in Europe. | ||
| 3. | To encourage the PRI to create a full and proper mechanism for investment management representation in its governance structures. | ||
| 117. Please rank the six principles from most difficult to implement to least difficult to implement: | |||
| Most difficult 1 | Principle 1 | ||
| 2 | Principle 4 | ||
| 3 | Principle 5 | ||
| 4 | Principle 3 | ||
| 5 | Principle 6 | ||
| Least difficult 6 | Principle 2 | ||