Responsible investing and ESG

Your pension is invested in the companies that are shaping the world’s future. Often, it’s the most money any of us will ever have invested in our lifetimes. It’s a powerful tool, not just for your future financial security, but as a way of advocating for the world you want to live in and that positive future.

As a life and pensions company, we choose the fund managers that look after your investment and select the companies, sectors and countries to invest it in.

As stewards of your money, our fund managers can look to influence companies’ policy on, for example, CO2 emissions. The greater the interest held, the more influence one can have, which puts large life and pensions companies like us and our fund managers in a strong position to make a difference on issues like this.

We are committed to being a responsible investor of our customer’s pensions and promoting responsible investing. This commitment means being a good steward of assets, working together with our selected fund managers and the companies they invest in.

Alongside this, we also believe that considering environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues can help us deliver better returns for our customers. This means there are long-term financial benefits to an approach that is rooted in shared values and a desire for companies to do things in everyone’s best interests.

Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation

Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) is part of new European regulation for financial services markets participants. It aims to provide more transparency on sustainability in financial markets and comparability in this regard between different funds. Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) are three key factors when measuring the sustainability and ethical impact of companies and businesses that Royal London Ireland funds invest in.