2023 Responsible Investment and Stewardship Outcomes Report published
Our Outcomes Report offers a detailed look, using a mixture of real-world case studies and metrics, at how we are making a difference through our actions, both directly and through engagement with companies within our portfolios.
Examples of how Brunel is forging better futures by investing in a world worth living in can be seen across all our Responsible Investment priorities.
Highlights include;
- Securing the real living wage for an extra 19,000 people
With the challenge of a cost-of-living crisis so prevalent in the UK, we recognise the benefit of supporting the Good Work Coalition in their drive to secure the real living wage and campaign to improve UK standards in the workplace.
In 2022, we supported the filing of a ground breaking shareholder resolution seeking that Sainsbury’s accredit as a living wage employer by July 2023. Although Sainsbury’s ultimately decided against becoming accredited, the extensive engagement with them led to them announcing an additional pay rise for their London staff, resulting in all directly employed staff earning the real living wage.
- 82% of the Climate Action 100+ focus companies within our portfolios have committed to Net Zero
- Compared to its benchmark, the aggregate portfolio is 27% less carbon intensive on a Weighted Average Carbon Intensity (WACI) basis and 35% less than the baseline set in 2019
- Samsung, one of our target companies, announced a collaboration with Patagonia to develop a new machine with a microfibre filter – reducing plastic waste
- Evaluation progress on Climate Change
Through the Climate stocktake we reviewed the effectiveness and scope of our Climate Policy, coordinating with multiple stakeholders. The Stocktake process was managed and overseen by Chronos Sustainability to ensure a robust process, resulting in a full Climate Stocktake Report.
It involved extensive outreach promoting climate public policy positions and promoting the Paris Aligned initiative’s Net Zero Investment Framework at UN Climate Conference – COP27.
- Seeing our Climate approach embedded within our partners
Persistent engagement is paying off with general partners in private debt, seeing them build in climate metrics to their disclosures, helping us enhance our reporting.
- Leading the way in linking incentives to outcomes
Orchard Street Partners have also taken a market leading approach by linking 30% of its performance fees to the achievement of the Fund’s specific impact objectives, thereby aligning itself directly. Not only to financial outcomes, but also to important environmental and social goals.
- Federated Hermes (EOS) engaged with 899 companies on Brunel’s behalf
Brunel believes in using its position to engage with and affect real-world change. One of our main ways is through our dedicated provider, Federated Hermes (EOS) who enhance our stewardship activity across the RI priorities, including;
- raising awareness of the risks of surrounding biodiversity in the food and beverage sector
- supporting the shareholder resolution that led to Apple change its approach on concealment clauses as part of our Human Rights and Social Issues
- for our Cyber priority they have established effective ongoing dialogue with technology leaders on support appropriate data collection and ethical AI
- £675bn of pension fund assets co-signed the Brunel letter on stakeholder capitalism
Faith Ward, our Chief Responsible Investment Officer
“2022 has seen some fantastic progress across our RI priorities. Our Climate Stocktake has been a great step forward, allowing us to really interrogate whether our actions are having the outcomes we want them to.
Alongside this, a highlight for me, must be supporting an action that raise the issue of the real living wage – and also led to pay increases for 19,000 Sainsbury’s employees.
Our Outcomes report shines a spotlight on the hard work undertaken by Brunel and how our RI approach is embedded in everything we do.”
