As an asset manager, we believe our primary role with respect to climate change is to understand the financial risks and opportunities created by this unprecedented phenomenon and manage them in the best interests of our clients.
Full details of our efforts are available in our annual Climate Change Report, available here.
Our efforts to advocate on issues related to climate change include the following.
- Committing to the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative in early 2021. By asset class, Insight’s target includes 100% of UK government bonds, and 75% of corporate bond and equity holdings managed in the UK. Please visit Insight’s net zero pledge page for more details of our initial commitment.
- Participation in industry groups as part of our work managing systemic climate risks, such as the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) and Climate Action 100+.
- Support for the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), including through our response to the TCFD 2021 consultation on updating its 2017 recommendations. Our Climate Change Report (available here) is aligned to the TCFD recommendations.
- Engagement on green bond issuance. For example, we engaged with the UK DMO on its proposals for green gilt issuance in 2020 and 2021, ahead of its first issuance in September 2021 and second issuance in October 2021. We believe this engagement was constructive and the issuance was ultimately well received, broadly fulfilling our expectations for sustainable issuance and meeting with strong demand in the market.
- Establishing a science-based position on thermal coal investments, which commits to ensuring any holdings related to thermal coal usage will have a clear and actionable plan to exit coal by 2030 for developed market holdings and 2040 for emerging market holdings, while balancing the imperatives of a Just Transition as stated in the Paris Agreement. Insight will look to achieve this, where possible, through effective engagement as we feel this is likely to achieve a better real-world outcome. However, the position developed also has an escalation function which may ultimately lead to divestment if coal exit strategies are not sufficiently aspirational. Insight’s thermal coal position is available here.
- Responding to regulatory and industry consultations on related issues. For example, in the UK, recent proposals to which Insight has responded include climate disclosure proposals for asset owners and asset managers; climate alignment and stewardship proposals for pension schemes; and proposals from the UK Transition Plan Taskforce, which aim to put frameworks and benchmarks in place to help financial institutions and companies in their net zero transition plans. A selection of our responses to consultations are available here.