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Responsible investing

For wealth managers, such as ourselves, who are entrusted with the stewardship of our clients’ capital, it is important to ensure that ESG considerations are embedded within our responsible investment processes.

Engaged in stewardship

As responsible investors, we are engaged in the stewardship of the businesses we invest in on behalf of our clients. We use our influence as shareholders to improve investee companies’ own ESG practices and performance. We do this by engaging (directly and collaboratively) with companies where we have material shareholdings and by voting at shareholder meetings. As good stewards of our clients’ capital, we seek to encourage better business practices which will both enhance value and reduce potential risks as well as improving the impact of holding those investments on the both the environment and wider society.

Stewardship Code 2020 report

We are committed long term responsible investors and good stewards of our clients’ assets and as such believe that it is important to commit to the UK Stewardship Code.

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Stewardship & Responsible Investing Annual Report 2020

The report highlights our approach and thinking on this rapidly evolving area and we lay out our voting and engagement track record for the past year.

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Responsible Investment Policy

We are committed to generating strong risk adjusted returns for our clients, by investing in companies that will create long-term value for all stakeholders. As part of this we recognise how environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors and voting and engagement activity can influence the prospects and financial performance of our investments, and play a key part in our responsibility to society, stakeholders and our clients.

Voting Policy

As part of our commitment to both the UK Stewardship Code and the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) we began proxy voting in November 2018 (using Glass Lewis as our proxy provider), and since then we have voted on over 700 company meetings and actively engaged with over 100 companies.

SRD II Engagement Policy

The revised Shareholder Rights Directive (SRD II) took effect in the UK on 10 June 2019. Firms that provide investment management services to certain types of institutional investors are required to publish a shareholder engagement policy explaining how they engage with the companies in which they invest, and annual information about how the policy has been implemented.

Sustainability Disclosure Policy

We have adopted the approach to sustainability-related processes mandated by the EU in the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, which took effect on 10 March 2021. Firms that provide investment management services are required to disclose to potential investors how sustainability risks are integrated into their investment processes and the due diligence performed on the principal adverse impacts of their investment decisions and investment advice on sustainability factors.

Proxy Voting Report

We report on our Proxy Voting activities on a quarterly basis as well as annually in keeping with our commitments to the UN PRI and the UK Stewardship Code. This is a copy of our most recent report.

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Responsible Investment Transparency Report

After becoming signatories to the UN PRI in 2018, we completed our first round of compulsory reporting in 2020. Smith and Williamson Investment Management LLP was awarded an overall A, which is made up of an A for Strategy and Governance, A for Listed Equity – Incorporation and an A for Listed Equity – Active Ownership. We would like to note that the PRI had significantly raised the bar in 2020, so we are extremely pleased with this result which shows significant improvement across all areas.

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Corporate Responsibility Report

To find out more about our work on responsible investing, explore our 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report.

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Risk Warning

The value of investments, and the income from them, may go down as well as up and investors may get back less than the amount originally invested.

Ethical funds

Please note that some ethical funds may, by definition, have a limited investment universe; this may affect performance.