Overview of the quarter

By contrast, the price of oil continued to ease from its steep peak after russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. However, the oil price is likely to come under further upward pressure as China relaxes its zero covid approach and as supply remains constrained from Russia and other non-Western producers.

As signatories of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, we have a strong focus on engaging with companies to support their efforts to reduce carbon emissions, and higher prices of fossil fuels are adding further impetus for businesses to develop innovative ways to achieve their reduction targets.

One industry which attracts a lot of criticism for its heavy emissions is aviation. We engaged with one of Europe’s leading airlines, which is exploring both sustainable aviation fuel and more fuel efficient upgrades to its fleet.

However, it is also important to gain a deep understanding of the regulatory background, as policymakers will be key to getting the industry’s energy transition going in earnest.

But responsible investing is of course much broader than Net Zero, and we engaged with several other companies over the quarter on a variety of concerns. These included a Japanese precision machinery industry company, which we are encouraging to recruit more women into senior positions, and a multinational beauty business, with which we discussed topics ranging from sustainability and independent directors to raw materials sourcing and litigation risk. While engagement can take time to be effective, we were pleased with the constructive tone of all these discussions.