Ellen de Kreij

Check out Schroders' 2024 voting season blog 👇 We share examples of how we plan to vote on shareholder resolutions this year and “analyse each resolution in the context of the company and our engagements with it” as emphasised by Kimberly Lewis, Head of Active Ownership. #ActiveOwnership

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Voting at shareholder meetings is part of being an active owner. In Schroders latest blog we share how we will vote on Nestlé’s reporting on food and beverages according to their healthfulness. Learn more below. #ActiveOwnership #Sustainability

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Natural capital research 📋 A new report highlights the growing appetite for #naturalcapital investments in institutional portfolios, with half of UK asset owners saying they already invest in natural capital or will do so within the next 18 months. Key findings include: 🌱 50% of UK asset owners are either already investing in natural capital or will do so within the next 18 months 🌧️ 73% of UK asset owners would invest in natural capital to support climate adaptation 📈 59% would allocate up to 3% of assets to natural capital The research, commissioned by Gresham House and carried out by the research division of @mallowstreet, a community for the #institutionalinvestment industry, shows strong backing for the asset class, as investors become increasingly aware of natural capital’s potential to deliver resilient, impactful returns. #forestry #sustainableagriculture #biodiversity https://lnkd.in/enxn9Mqb Ally (Albena) Georgieva Stuart Breyer

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2024 is delivering on its promise to be a big year in #geopolitics with Rishi Sunak calling a UK General Election for 4 July. Absent major surprises, we don’t expect this one to be a market moving event. The opinion polls are strongly skewed towards a victory for Keir Starmer’s Labour and macro-economic policy differences are far smaller than they were in 2019 when Boris Johnson squared up against Jeremy Corbyn. November’s election in the US is a different matter altogether. The polls are close enough for either Biden or Trump to win the Presidency and there are major geopolitical forces hanging on the outcome. See the blog post for more details including a chart of UK GDP, inflation and base rates since 2010. Not a promising backdrop for the incumbent. https://lnkd.in/dPUVicu9

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Five priorities for the next government ✅ The next government will need to prioritise #economicgrowth if it wants to reverse the UK’s budget and social issues. For too long, the focus has been on what is going wrong over what is going right. The UK is a leader in #sustainability and has a strong ecosystem for growth capital - support and investment in both of these areas can generate good financial returns. Let’s get over the public versus private market obsession and create a stable policy environment for tomorrow’s growth. If the victor in next month’s #election wants to restore London’s reputation as a global financial centre, it will need to leverage the UK’s strengths and refresh its capital culture. This will mean mobilising institutional and private capital to support energy transition, sustainable infrastructure and growth companies, and encouraging entrepreneurialism and investment for positive impact across the UK. 1. Focused commitment to growth Entrepreneurial ventures and sustainable transition businesses need to be supported by both public and private capital markets. A commitment not to raise income tax will facilitate reinvestment and additional incentives would foster growth and innovation that drives growth. 2. Supporting the UK’s growth businesses Work with private capital to fill the funding gap holding growth companies back across the UK. Abolish the sunset clause for Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) and incentivise investment from institutional investors to support high-growth companies that drive job creation and innovation. 3. Reinvigorating the UK’s capital markets Encourage and rewarded entrepreneurialism and enable investors to allocate capital where it is needed on the basis of outcomes rather than structure or governance. Get over the obsession with public versus private markets and focus on creating depth of liquidity for growth capital in general. 4. Leveraging #pensionfunds for regional growth Build on the Mansion House reforms and revive the levelling-up agenda by facilitating pension fund investment in sustainable new infrastructure to support job creation and business expansion in regional areas. Many well-funded LGPS are still cash flow negative and need income-generating investments that can be found across the UK in sustainable infrastructure that will make a real impact. 5. Mandatory sustainability commitments Establish mandatory regulatory frameworks to encourage more private and institutional capital investment in supporting nature recovery. Investors want certainty and stability that can’t be found in voluntary commitments. Building on the Environment Act 2021, will attract international capital, meet demand from UK institutional investors, and promote a more sustainable economy. 

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For real estate markets this is a significant piece of regulation. Time is running out for many people to get their external comms in order.

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With our great news yesterday, Coinmerce Capital is at the forefront of the next generation of managers! Join me later today at AIMA - The Alternative Investment Management Association Next Generation Manager Forum 2024 where I will participate on a panel focusing on asset raising. #cryptomanager #nextgeneration #London Coinmerce

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A couple of weeks ago, Jupiter Asset Management hosted a breakfast seminar to discuss the findings of the latest Pensions for Purpose Impact Lens report which which looks at how asset owners consider diversity, equity & inclusion in how they approach investments, as well as when appointing and assessing their investment managers and other third parties. I've summarised the conversation here.. #DEI #PensionsforPurpose https://lnkd.in/erFgJt_d

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Independence, diversity and experience are all important considerations for a well-balanced board of directors. A myopic focus on a single factor, however, can lead to serious unintended consequences. In this article, senior investment professionals Karl Leinberger and Neville Chester highlight the value that a non-executive director with the necessary business acumen and experience can add to a company whose board they serve on. They illustrate this point through case studies of two companies recently facing challenges: the retailer Spar and restaurant group Spur, both overseen by chairman Mike Bosman.

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I’m looking forward to speaking at #RIEurope2024 tomorrow, sharing thoughts on how investors can make a start on nature, based on our own experience at Scottish Widows, including: 1. Understand exposure to nature related dependencies and impacts in your investment portfolio 2. Develop engagement priorities based on the outcomes of that analysis 3. Explore nature related investment opportunities across different asset classes (suitable for pension funds…) 4. Assess what meaningful nature related data is available from data providers and asset managers - and what you are going to do with it (action beyond reporting) 5. Look at tangible sub-themes such as water, waste and deforestation which may be easier to start with than a complex biodiversity footprint

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Join us for a webinar on June 6 featuring our own Jesse Beck and Susan Potter, alongside Brian Richardson of StartOut to discuss the strategies used to tackle organisational challenges in supporting the LGBTQ+ community, and how businesses can boost their performance by focusing on the community. #Pride #FutureofWork #EmployeeExperience

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An interesting article in Citywire this morning by Henry Cobbe, CFA (see below). https://lnkd.in/einXyGNY It would be remiss of me not to make the following points: 1) Public markets 'discount' (take into account) known recurring expenses. Take two listed closed-ended investment companies ('investment trusts'): A and B. Both Boards employ investment advisers who invest the trust's capital in identical cash deposits bearing 0% interest. Let's assume a 5 year management contract. A's adviser charges 1%, B's 2%. Will the share prices be the same? Of course not. B's share price, all other things equal, will be c. 5% lower to account for higher fees over the life of the management contract. Investors invest in the share price NOT the NAV. Expenses are a drag on the NAV NOT the share price. It has to be so otherwise there would be a risk-free arbitrage to short B and long A. It is inappropriate to treat these expenses in the same way we do the ongoing charges of open-ended funds and aggregate them in total cost figures (whether that's a fund of funds or a wealth management portfolio). Platforms should also not disclosure the figure to retail investors in this misleading way. Look what happened when BH Macro upped fees by 1% - the shares fell by c. 10% to discount the increased drag on NAV. I went into more detail on these issues in the below blog, and show why it is appropriate to aggregate ongoing charges of open-ended funds, but not expenses of investment trusts: https://lnkd.in/eSiyEMn5 2) Mr Cobbe has deployed a straw man. I am not aware of anyone campaigning for no disclosure. First, there is and always has been, as much disclosure for investment trusts as there is for other listed corporate entities via UK Listing rules (the reports and accounts). Second, we have been campaigning for additional disclosure via our "Statement of Operating Expenses". This would surface operating expenses in an appropriate way, express them as a percentage of NAV (for use alongside other relevant information such as premium / discount) to enable cross-comparison with open-ended funds and other investment trusts. We recognise that investment trusts share characteristics with open-ended funds, and we need disclosures that recognise that. But some trusts resemble operating companies (and compete with them) more than collective investment schemes. Crucially, the listing on a public market is a key differentiating feature and matters hugely for how expenses are disclosed. Disclose. Don't Double Count.

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Watch this space as we continue to deliver industry leading sustainability and climate risk solutions for all our clients

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📣 Ready to dive into meaningful insights? Triodos IM has published its full range of 2023 Impact Reports. Explore the detailed impact reports for each of our investment strategies and see for yourself how our investments are delivering positive change for people and planet.

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Is Fund Management just one big blob? Toby Nangle’s recent Financial Times article caught our eye this week, stating “…a series of mergers and acquisitions have resulted in many [asset management] firms huddling together for warmth” with Mark Burgess adding “big, and indeed small, firms merge to mediocrity, morphing into “meaningless blobs.”” At Hosking Partners we have done the opposite: - We consistently invest in our firm, reinforcing a highly differentiated mode of investment guided by our Capital Cycle approach. - This approach has produced superior returns for our clients for over four decades. - We are building a partnership to continue it for (at least) another four decades. The blob is not for us. You can find out more here: https://lnkd.in/efPtaqW8 https://lnkd.in/ea74upKE

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Green Angel Ventures has just launched the eighth round of our EIS Climate Change Fund. This is how I am personally doing all my EIS investing now, because it gives me a great spread of investments, all backed by individual angels in our group and after our thorough due diligence process, and means that I don't miss any of Green Angel Ventures' portfolio (no FOMO!) #EIS #climatetech #angelinvestment

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Nice article from Craig Coben that summarises some of the positive signs we've been seeing in the UK equity markets recently - outperformance vs. US/Europe, strong broader ECM issuance, the restart of IPO issuance and an increasing pipeline!

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Thames water - Washed up? Years of under investment in infrastructure and huge dividend payments to private equity owners have left Thames water with an unsustainable balance sheet in terms of debt burden and leverage ratios In a normal restructuring Equity holders would have to be completely wiped out and debt would have to be restructured extended and interest costs reduced for the company to survive Thames waters owners Kemble have missed a payment and their bonds reflect the reality of bankrucpy trading in the teens ( .17) .... however the operating company which is structurally ring fenced and asset rich has bonds trading at or around 70 cents on the dollar, indicating that some form of bailout is forthcoming and that the assets have value due to strong cash flow and potential for sale to third parties. My view is that public ownership should solve the problems in the long-term however existing investors need to be penalized in order that public ownership "aquires, nationalises buys" the company at a price which gives the UK an asset where leverage and debt are relatively speaking ...lower than they are now... That will give the company the ability to service its interest requirements from cash flowgoing forward ie less debt.... Currently that is not the case in fact their leverage ratios are so high that they are now trading at a yield which is disproportionately high for an investment grade company Current yield metrics for Thames water bonds indicate a spread of 200 basis points over... putting them firmly in high yield territory implying a BB rating So a bailout and nationalization is most likely on the cards and the best way forward for Thames water ....but we the public as taxpayers should insist that a significant write down of equity and debt occur before that happens in order that they can stand on their own two feet going forward #nationalisation #thameswater #bonds #water #highyield #markets #investing That is not good for a regulated public infrastructure company especially one that ostensibly is still investment grade Thames Water could benefit from a spell of public ownership - https://on.ft.com/3UqANRX via @FT

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