Global investment manager Schroders announced that it has been awarded a £5.2 billion (USD$6.3 billion) sustainable investment mandate by UK wealth manager St. James’s Place (SJP), as the new manager of the SJP Sustainable & Responsible Equity fund.
The announcement forms part of a series of changes by SJP to the fund, including an increased focus on sustainability, which SJP said would enable the fund to meet new requirements by the Financial Conduct Authority to achieve a “Sustainability Focus” label. The current manager of the fund is Impax Asset Management.
In a post announcing the changes, Natasha Simms, Sustainable Investments Writer at SJP said:
“The changes to the fund are intended to improve diversification and further enhance the fund’s focus on sustainability. The latter will enable it to meet the FCA’s new higher threshold for sustainable investments and achieve a “sustainability focus” label.”
The FCA’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) requirements were introduced by the regulator in November 2023, aimed at helping investors assess the sustainability attributes of investment products, and to avoid greenwashing risk, to portfolio managers. The SDR included naming and marketing rules for investment products, requiring that sustainability-related terms can only be used in product names and marketing if a label is used. The FCA introduced four labels intended to help consumers to differentiate between the sustainability objectives and investment approaches of investment products., including Sustainability Focus, Sustainability Improvers, Sustainability Impact, and Sustainability Mixed Goals.
The new mandate will follow Schroders’ Global Sustainable Value Equity and Global Sustainable Growth strategies, which the firm recently announced will adopt the FCA’s Sustainability Focus Label. Schroders announced in December that it plans to adopt SDR labels for at least 10 funds.
Alex Tedder, Co-Head of Equities, Schroders, said:
“This investment allocation by SJP underlines the quality of our active investment process and commitment to delivering sustainable outcomes for our investors.
“Clients, investors and the industry are increasingly focused on bespoke investment solutions that are able to deliver strong risk-adjusted returns together with a comprehensive commitment to sustainability. Our broad-based capability and commitment to active management puts us in a strong position to meet client objectives in a rapidly transforming investment environment.”
