The U.K.'s Investment Association created its own definitions and categories for responsible investment approaches to help investors compare funds, following a consultation with 40 money managers that jointly run £5 trillion ($6.4 trillion) in assets in the U.K.
In an effort to establish a "common language" for how money managers market responsible investment strategies to clients, the association members beginning in 2020 will also be asked to identify their funds' responsible investment characteristics such as stewardship or exclusions.
Some 85% of firms that responded to the consultation also supported a fund-level approach vs. a firm-level approach to distinguish which firms might be adopting multiple responsible investing strategies among their funds.
"The agreement of industrywide definitions provides (investors) with that much-needed clarity and choice," said Chris Cummings, CEO of the association, in a news release. "The investment management industry can now give its customers a clear picture of the opportunities available to them and the confidence that their chosen product matches their expectations. This is a new milestone in making it easy for people to choose a responsible investment."
The IA will be collecting responsible investment data on segregated mandates and firm-level data on stewardship, ESG integration and exclusions for its annual survey in 2020.
