Point of No Returns 2023: Part I – Ranking and General Findings

We urgently need to address the world’s interconnected human and natural crises. The global cost of living crisis has highlighted this: inflation has soared to multi-decade highs, and the global economic outlook has suffered from geopolitical, social and ecological shocks[i]. These are not easy problems to address.

Asset managers can, and do, play an important role in these issues. They are custodians of a vast amount of global wealth and stewards of many influential corporations. They must demonstrate proactive stewardship of the companies in which they invest, in the best interests of the people whose wealth they look after. International frameworks such as the Paris Agreement[ii], the Sustainable Development Goals[iii], the UN Guiding Principles of Business and Human Rights[iv], and the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework[v] require a stewardship approach that looks beyond financial risk and incorporates responsibility and accountability for the real-world impacts of investments.

In this report, we rank the responsible investment policies and practices of 77 of the world’s largest asset managers. We assess the ambition, scope, and transparency of these firms’ approaches to responsible investment, to help determine how far they are safeguarding against key social and environmental risks. We also review progress since our last benchmarking of asset managers in our 2020 Point of No Returns report[vi]. You can find more detail on many of these asset managers’ voting records on shareholder resolutions on environmental and social topics in our 2022 Voting Matters report[vii].

Authors: Abhijay Sood, Dr Jonathan Middleton, Marina Zorila

Contributing Authors: Dr Claudia Gray, Danielle Vrublevskis, Felix Nagrawala, Izzy Monnickendam, Katie Stewart

Contact: research.secretariat@shareaction.org

ShareAction does not provide investment advice - read our disclaimer here.