Active engagement by investors is a key tool for driving real-world change, but where should the responsibility lie for this engagement? 

It is generally the investment managers that lead engagement activities but, as the ultimate fiduciary, asset owners must also take ownership of the activities taking place for their underlying assets. 

In practice, this means investors need to be able to hold the managers they use to account on their engagement activity – they need to have a good understanding of the activity taking place, its effectiveness and the forward-looking plans of their managers.  However, this can be difficult to do in practice as it takes time and expertise.  Asset owners may also feel their actions in isolation would make little difference anyway. 

This is where investment consultants can, and should, come in.  With the right expertise and data, consultants can help their clients better understand the engagement effort being undertaken on their behalf by their asset managers.  Consultants’ broader client book also gives them a convening power – an opportunity to influence managers directly and hold them to account collectively, on behalf of all their clients.  This can help asset owners have more impact in the most cost-effective way. 

Join this session to find out more about how asset owners can think about the chain of engagement and the actions their consultants can take to support them with this.