Many customers tell us that they are interested in investing in a way that aims to reduce harm, as well as having an objective to grow the money they invest. They tell us this when we carry out customer research.
When we use the words responsible investing it means looking at environmental, social and governance factors when deciding where to invest money. This is shortened to say ESG. It means looking at how a company is managing ESG risks and opportunities
and how that could affect its financial performance over the long term.
Risks might include investment in companies involved in an activity like tobacco production. Opportunities might include investment in companies that develop green technology.
How you can compare some
types of responsible investments
Investment managers can have different views on what makes a fund responsible or sustainable. This can make it hard for you to compare options and decide where to invest.
The four labels below can help you compare investments, along with reviewing any sustainability disclosures provided by the fund manager.
- Sustainability Impact
- Sustainability Improvers
- Sustainability Focus
- Sustainability Mixed Goals
If an investment manager wants to use words like sustainable, sustainability or impact to describe their fund, they will have to apply for a label and display it on documents about the fund.
If an investment has a label, you can be confident that it includes evidence-based measures.
Labels and sustainability disclosures only apply to certain types of investments
- The rules only apply to certain types of investments.
- They do apply to many funds managed by external investment managers based in the UK
- But they don't apply to our Phoenix Wealth funds, profiles or funds based outside the UK.
Investments with a label will have to share extra
information
Managers of labelled investments have to share information with you about the fund’s sustainability aims and measures. This is called a sustainability disclosure.
Some fund managers may publish a sustainability disclosure, even though they don’t apply for a sustainability label.
How to access Labels and sustainability disclosures
To find out if an investment has a label or a sustainability disclosure, or if it primarily invests into underlying funds that have these features, you can contact us.