Sustainability
and ESG

Environmental, Social and Governance issues are central to the Trust’s monitoring of sustainability

Why it matters to us

We work closely with the Columbia Threadneedle Responsible Investment team to systematically integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into CT Global Managed Portfolio Trust’s investment process, with a view to reducing risk and improving returns over the long term – both in financial and sustainability terms.

Parent and child ride bicycles

Our Approach

Environmental, Social and Governance (‘ESG’) issues are the three central factors in measuring sustainability and can present both opportunities and threats to the long-term investment performance the Company aims to deliver to shareholders. We believe in the power of engaged, long-term ownership as a force for positive change. We have a Manager that applies high standards of Responsible Investment in managing the Company’s investments on behalf of our shareholders.

The Board and Manager are therefore committed to taking a responsible approach to ESG matters, for which there are two strands. Firstly, there are the Company’s own responsibilities on matters such as governance and, secondly, the impact it has through the investments that are made on its behalf by its Manager.

Responsible Ownership

The Board recognises that the most material way in which the Trust can have an impact is through responsible ownership of its investments. The Manager engages actively with the management of investee companies to encourage that high standards of ESG practice are adopted.

The Manager has long been at the forefront of the investment industry in its consideration of these issues and has one of the longest established and largest teams focused solely on ESG.

Engaging actively with companies on significant ESG matters, to reduce risk, improve performance, encourage best practice and underpin long-term investor value forms a fundamental part of the Manager’s approach towards responsible investment. Engagement in the first instance rather than simply divesting or excluding investment opportunities is also part of this approach.
Woman with a dog on a mountain trail
A family with a dog is walking in the forest

Voting on the portfolio investments

The Board expects to be informed by the Manager of any sensitive voting issues involving the Company’s investments. In the absence of explicit instructions from the Board, the Manager is empowered to exercise discretion in the use of the Company’s voting rights and reports to the Board on its voting record. The Manager will vote on all investee company resolutions.

During the last financial year, the Manager voted at 102 meetings of investee companies held by the Company. The Manager did not support management’s recommendations on at least one resolution at approximately 8% of all meetings. With respect to all items voted, the Manager supported over 98% of all management resolutions. Approaching half of the votes against management related to the election of directors. As in previous years, boards lacking sufficient independent oversight and directors considered to be non-independent sitting on key board committees were the most common reasons for not supporting an individual’s re-election.

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