Responsible investment
As the transition to a sustainable economy gains momentum, UBP is enhancing its responsible investment expertise, practices and offering in order to help you successfully navigate the changing investment landscape.
Our rationale
A comprehensive approach to investing that considers sustainability factors can support both risk management and alpha-generation. At the same time, we also firmly believe that the financial sector has a key role to play in creating a sustainable economy.
Our approach
Since we became a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) in March 2012, the world of responsible investment has evolved substantially, as has our approach.
To respect our fiduciary duty, we interlace traditional investment management approaches with responsible investment approaches, such as negative screening, ESG integration and stewardship as well as positive inclusion and impact investing.
Our responsible investment practices
This is a long-standing strategy, based on norm-based and business involvement screening, whereby we exclude from portfolios companies with unfavourable ESG characteristics. These include those whose business activities violate international treaties, norms, or standards, or those that are exposed to businesses that may represent a financial risk. Our Asset Management Exclusion List encompasses a number of controversial business areas that we have identified as inappropriate to invest in, while our Watch List monitors companies that are embroiled in ESG controversies and therefore present greater investment risk. More details on the business involvement and norm-based screening criteria and the thresholds applied for different investment strategies are available in our Responsible Investment Policy.
UBP’s investment teams are encouraged to assess issues and opportunities related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, including climate considerations, as part of their research and issuer selection process. Exposure to ESG risks is a growing challenge for companies. Failure to address them may lead to reputational damage, operational inefficiency, regulatory scrutiny, fines and, ultimately, financial repercussions. Our ESG integration approach gives us a holistic view of investment risks and opportunities and is based on enhancing portfolio resilience. Investment processes are specific to each investment team, their assets, and their strategies.
Through positive inclusion, companies are selected on the basis of their positive sustainability practices. This includes screening for businesses and activities that
- are contributing to the environment and society in line with the EU Taxonomy
- are classified as sustainable based on UBP’s internal methodology in line with the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) or
- have stronger ESG practices than their peers
A dedicated impact investing franchise is part of our responsible investment practices. It offers solutions to clients who prioritise the generating of positive environmental or social outcomes alongside financial returns. Our impact investment team also aims to contribute positively to the companies’ practices (e.g. through stewardship).
Stewardship
As active managers, we view stewardship as an ongoing and valuable process. We engage with companies in different ways to gain a better understanding of their ESG-related practices, promote responsible best practices, and raise specific issues and concerns.
Through an engagement partner to address controversial practices in breach of international norms.
Initiated by the investment teams to support best practices, encourage disclosure and promote change where necessary.
Combining forces with other investors to increase the impact and effectiveness of engagements.
We believe that exercising shareholders’ voting rights is a key aspect of our stewardship practice and a powerful tool to influence corporate decisions. We believe that shareholders play a crucial role in shaping the vision of what a company should be. Therefore, our voting policy actively promotes:
- Acting in the shareholders’ best financial interests in order to enhance the long-term value of their investments and
- Promoting ESG best practice
Voting rights are exercised on the basis of our proxy voting policy, which is in line with the sustainability policy of our proxy voting provider. The principles of the policy are compatible with the investment policy pursued by each of the sub-funds/mandates impacted and are applied in the context of the global UN PRI engagements of the UBP Group and of the net zero commitment of UBP Asset Management (Europe) S.A.
Our climate strategy
UBP is committed to participating in the fight against climate change and to contributing to the Paris Agreement’s objective to keep global warming well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
With this in mind, we have sought to integrate the recommendations made by the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Furthermore, UBP Asset Management (Europe) S.A., our Luxembourg-based fund management company, signed up to the Net Zero Asset Management Initiative (NZAM) at the end of 2021, thus committing to halve the carbon emissions of its portfolio by 2030 and to take it to net zero by 2050 or earlier. It published its net zero targets in early 2023.
UBP’s Asset Management division also monitors the carbon footprint of its long-only internally managed funds domiciled in Luxembourg, France, and Switzerland, and of its institutional long-only internally managed mandates. We report on our financed emissions annually in the TCFD report.
Our UBAM strategies
Meet the team
Karine Jesiolowski has 30 years of experience in the financial industry. She has been Head of Responsible Investment for Asset Management since 2018. Together with the Responsible Investment team, she supports investment teams in applying responsible investment practices, monitoring relevant ESG developments and regulations, and developing and updating responsible investment policies.
More information
09.07.2024
New White Paper covers shareholder voting on remuneration
Research confirms that companies that do not embed sustainability targets into executive remuneration strategies struggle to motivate executives to adopt sustainable practices, leading to misalignment with societal expectations and stakeholder interests.
26.06.2024
UBP releases 2023 Sustainability Report
UBP’s fourth annual Sustainability Report outlines our sustainability vision and strategy, while providing a transparent account of our progress and achievements along with next steps, covering both investments and operations.
19.06.2024
Impact investing: looking for diversification in emerging markets
We believe that the time is ripe to consider allocations to emerging equities for impact investors. Mathieu Nègre, Co-Head of Impact Investing, covers both the regional and thematic aspects and shares our outlook.
11.06.2024
Impact Report 2023: a major milestone for nature investing
2023 offered a mixed bag for sustainability. While economic anxieties dominated the news cycle, significant strides were made in recognising the interconnectedness of environmental and financial well-being.
07.06.2024
Swiss sustainability-related investments see slight growth
Sustainability-related investments in Switzerland returned to a growth path last year after seeing a significant drop between 2021 and 2022.
21.05.2024
Embracing regenerative agriculture for sustainable growth
UBP’s impact team believes in the pivotal role regenerative agriculture has to play in addressing environmental challenges and fostering long-term prosperity. This theme can provide fertile ground for investors looking at impact investing.
