Overview of the quarter

Not least because the first mainstream usage of the initials was in the United Nations report ‘Who Cares Wins’ – which was published in 2004, two years after the release of Coldplay’s hit.

Whilst responsible investing’s origins go back further than that, the whole area is still nascent, rapidly evolving and often ill defined. As a result, investors encounter a broad range of difficulties and complexities, and we believe that calls for a pragmatic and adaptive approach.

In this quarter’s Responsible Investment Report, we highlight one area where engagement is far from straightforward: commodities. Different ways of investing in commodities require different approaches to engagement. But we have managed to find ways – sometimes fairly oblique – to increase the ESG pressures on the commodity producers. These pressures need to be effective but measured: after all, many of these commodities – such as copper and lithium – will be vital if we are to transition successfully away from carbon-intensive fossil fuels.

Of course, it’s not just investors who find it hard to cope with the demands of ESG. In our engagements in focus section this quarter, we outline our recent discussions with Perseus Mining, which has been frustrated by the number of different environmental reporting standards it’s asked to meet. Whilst we understand these frustrations given its resource constraints, we were satisfied with the solution proposed. Our other in-focus engagements are with British American Tobacco and ArcelorMittal.