Our approach to stewardship
Stewardship is a core part of our approach to responsible investment. Building relationships and working with companies can help enable the change needed to move towards a more sustainable world.
The two main ways that we put stewardship into action are:
- Voting – we use our voting rights on a range of issues and ask our asset managers to vote on our behalf in line with our voting principles (PDF). This includes voting on matters such as how companies are run (governance), their impact on climate change, board appointments, changes to a company’s structure, pay and compensation, and mergers and acquisitions.
- Advocacy and engagement – we ask our asset managers to engage with and encourage positive change in the companies they invest in on behalf of our customers.
Our asset manager partners and stewardship
Royal London Asset Management (opens in a new window) manages most of our customers' pension assets through our Governed Range.
Royal London Asset Management and the other asset managers we work with are signatories of the UN Principles of Responsible Investment and the UK Stewardship Code. We're also signatories of both of these codes.
UN Principles for Responsible Investment
The six Principles for Responsible Investment outline possible actions for incorporating ESG factors into investment practice. The Principles were developed by investors, for investors. In implementing them, signatories contribute to developing a more sustainable global financial system.
UK Stewardship Code (2020)
The UK Stewardship Code sets high stewardship standards for those investing money on behalf of UK savers and pensioners, and those that support them. Stewardship is the responsible allocation, management, and oversight of our customers’ and clients’ money to create long-term value, supporting more sustainable benefits for the economy, the environment and society.
Voting and engagement in action
Royal London Asset Management takes its responsibilities as a shareholder on behalf of us and our customers seriously. The Responsible Investment team actively engages with companies in line with the voting guidelines (opens in new window). The guidelines set out Royal London Asset Management’s approach to voting in UK and non-UK markets.
In 2023, Royal London Asset Management voted on 44,477 resolutions at 3,572 meetings, and engaged with 443 companies. Climate (transition risk), mental health and corporate governance were our top engagement activities. Our voting activity included topics such as board related resolutions, compensation and shareholder proposals.
You can find out more about Royal London Asset Management’s voting approach on its website, including full historic voting records in its voting database (opens in a new window).