ESG
Barry Butler - Independent Member
Phoenix takes its responsibilities to the environment and wider society seriously. The framework and policies have been updated to make sure ESG and stewardship are appropriately considered when making investment decisions.
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Value for money indicator
Why we gave this score
Phoenix Group (‘the Group’) continues to have a strong policy framework that sets out clearly how environmental, social and governance (ESG) and stewardship considerations should be taken into account in investment decisions that impact customer outcomes.
We have seen evidence of the evolution of its policy framework to keep pace with the latest standards and the Group’s understanding of ESG matters.
We scored them highly in 2023 and they have responded well to the challenge that we set last year so have retained an excellent rating.
- The ESG and stewardship policy framework covers factors that can influence investment returns, as well as ethical and non-financial matters.
- The policy framework is backed up by a strong governance framework.
- All investment decisions are required to meet certain minimum ESG standards.
- The Group takes an ESG leadership role in the industry to advance collective thinking, raise awareness of various ESG issues, and champion good practice.
- The Group is a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code.
- In 2024, the Group launched climate aware decarbonising equity benchmarks for North America equities.
Some additional information
Challenges
In order to improve the value for money that customers receive, we set specific challenges to address areas that could be improved. Below is an update on the challenges we set Phoenix for 2024:
- Fully met: Sped up application of more explicit responsible investment considerations to default funds.