Responsible Investing

The Personal Portfolio Funds are invested in custom-built and third-party funds, with limited direct exposure to equities and bonds. The custom-built funds are managed via our strategic relationships where Coutts, the investment manager, defines the investment parameters and ESG policies.

While Coutts does not define the investment parameters or ESG policies of third-party funds, they assess their climate strategies as part of our net-zero investment framework and consider responsible investing in our fund due diligence process.

Voting and engagement (referred to as stewardship) are two methods Coutts use to influence and communicate with companies and encourage responsible behaviour.

Voting rights give Coutts a voice on potential company changes and engagement enables a longer-term, active dialogue to encourage improved disclosure and practices.

As a responsible investor, the preferred strategy is to engage with companies, however, there are certain investments where Coutts believe that engagement will not be effective or where they decide to take a prudent approach until they gain sufficient confidence that the relevant issues can be addressed.

We understand that acting responsibly is a collective ambition or goal, and this is why Coutts works with some of the world's leading investor initiatives.

They take part in industry working groups to set standards around how they can best incorporate ESG practices into investment selection, and they join collaborative engagement initiatives to encourage companies manage material ESG risks and opportunities.