We act as an agent for change because investment markets can only be as healthy as the environment and communities that support them.
We act as an agent for change by:
Using our ownership rights to improve the sustainability of the assets we invest in.
Bringing investors together to address systemic risks that have not had the attention they require.
Seeking to be a catalyst for change in the investment industry.
A Better World, not just a better portfolio
Our approach to engagement frequently goes beyond the constituents of our portfolios. We believe that this top‑down, or ‘systemic’ approach to stewardship can be the quickest and most efficient way of driving progress at the company level.
By helping accelerate progress in meeting the major global sustainability challenges, we seek to limit risks before they negatively impact the function of society and the performance of our clients’ investments.
How we create change
We believe that active ownership, the practice of working actively to encourage positive changes in companies’ business practices, is the most effective way that investors can help bring about positive real-world change.
Our approach incorporates:
Creating, convening and participating in collaborative shareholder initiatives to address some of the major sustainability challenges. By working with other investors, we can increase the impact of our engagement beyond just the companies we invest in.
Working directly with companies that we invest in to address specific sustainability risks they may face. This work includes engagement meetings with management, proxy voting at company meetings, attending AGMs, and filing shareholder resolutions.
Engaging with government to push for progressive regulation and legislation where we believe it is needed.
Key initiatives
Addressing modern slavery
We believe that businesses can play a key role in the fight to end modern slavery. We aim to use the power of investors to encourage more effective action to find, fix and prevent modern slavery.
Improving mental health
We have developed the CCLA Corporate Mental Health Benchmarks which rate companies’ policies and processes for protecting the mental health of their staff.
Accelerating climate action
We have pledged to achieve Net Zero emissions portfolios for listed equity no later than 2050 via real-world emissions reductions.
Examples
Nestlé
Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing
On the back of prolonged engagement over the past two years together with ShareAction’s Healthy Markets Coalition and the Access to Nutrition Foundation, Nestlé agreed a set of new nutritional commitments:
benchmark and disclose the nutritional information of its products in 14 countries
raise the target age of marketing of unhealthy foods
cease marketing on gaming platforms where the user base is significantly comprised of under 16s.
cease the marketing of infant formula milk from 1st January 2023.
After an initial reluctance to set healthy foods sales targets, we escalated the engagement and considered co-filing a shareholder resolution. Nestlé eventually agreed to set targets on absolute sales of healthy products.
NextEra
Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action
Based in the US, NextEra is one of the world’s largest generators of renewable energy. Despite its leadership in the generation of clean energy, the company has historically lagged peers in climate-related disclosure. In the run up to the 2024 AGM, we led the filing of a climate-related shareholder proposal at NextEra. NextEra has a target to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2045 although some of the trade associations to which it belongs can present forceful obstacles to addressing climate change. Our proposal asked the Board to report to shareholders on its approach to identifying and addressing misalignments between NextEra's lobbying and policy influence activities, and its 'Real Zero' goal. The proposal received an encouraging 33% support at the AGM in May.
Amazon
Sustainable Development Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth