Jump to navigation Climate change and investment policy CLIMATE CHANGE AND INVESTMENT POLICY Policy Summary: CCLA recognises that climate change, and associated changes in governmental policy, pose a threat to shareholder value over the medium to long-term. We view climate change as the largest threat to our planet, ecosystems and communities, as well as a being a critical issue for long-term investors. We also recognise that the transition to a low carbon economy presents investment opportunities. For these reasons we have long supported efforts to limit global temperature rises to substantially below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. As investors we have a duty to manage our financial exposure to climate related risk and to maximise the opportunities arising from the low carbon transition for our clients. We do this in five ways. First, informed by scenario analysis and qualitative investigation by our investment analysts and ESG experts, we conduct an annual review of the major risks and opportunities associated with climate change. Second, informed by this analysis we seek to avoid investing in the companies, in the most exposed sectors, who are not properly preparing, or are not able to prepare, for the transition to a low carbon economy. Third, we engage with our holdings to support them in addressing and mitigating the risks that the low carbon economy poses to their business. Fourth, we seek to promote proactive climate regulation and legislation through interaction with public policy makers. Finally, we seek to identify investments that meet our risk and return objectives and dedicate capital to accelerating the low carbon economy. This policy applies to all long-term assets under management with the exception of Property. Property assets are managed in accordance with CCLA’s Responsible Property Investment Policy, which includes environmental risk management. Identifying Climate Risks and Investment Opportunities: The delivery of long-term sustainable returns is a central requirement for our clients. Therefore, we seek to take a long-term approach to investment management. When identifying new opportunities for our equity and multi-asset funds we aim to invest for a minimum of five years and are aware that the time horizon for our many of our charity clients is much longer. For this reason, responsible investment and stewardship is at the core of our investment approach. Our approach seeks to identify, and mitigate, the highest ESG risks to investment performance within our standard holding period and, to protect our clients into the future, contribute to building a long-term sustainable future. Addressing the risks and opportunities associated with climate change and the associated transition to a low carbon economy is our highest responsible investment priority. We recognise that different companies and sectors will be impacted at different times and to different extents. To identify the assets most at risk, we conduct an annual review of the impacts of climate change on the performance of 67 GICs Industry Sectors. Our current focus is on the impact of prospective regulation, legislation and litigation (with a particular focus on the ability to create ‘Stranded Assets’) and the physical effects of climate change (such as an increased regularity of extreme weather events and impacts on the availability of water) upon companies’ ability to deliver strong and sustainable returns to investors. The risk awarded to a sector determines whether an asset is an eligible investment and/or the level of due-diligence that is necessary to complete prior to a stock entering a CCLA portfolio. Asset Selection: Whilst most of the financial impacts of climate change will be felt in the future, on the back of our most recent annual review, we take a number of steps to make our clients’ portfolios more resilient. In regards to asset selection, we have adopted a rigorous process for considering companies in the sectors most exposed to climate risk. As part of this approach: We do not invest our clients’ assets in companies that have been identified by our third party data provider, MSCI, as generating more than 5% of their returns from the extraction of energy coal or tar sands We negatively alter diversified oil and gas companies’ valuations to reflect amendments to the projected energy demand during the low carbon transition. This amendment is informed by the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Sustainable Development Scenario and the Beyond Two Degrees Scenario and makes the sector, and specifically oil intensive businesses, less attractive in our investment model. In addition to the above, prior to purchase, we conduct an in-house assessment of oil and gas and electrical utility companies’ alignment with the Paris Agreement and associated measures. Investee companies that are not in line with the Agreement require approval from the Chief Investment Officer and Head of Ethical and Responsible Investment prior to purchase, are reported regularly to CCLA’s bi-annual Ethical and Responsible Investment Committee. Once purchased such businesses are prioritised for active stewardship. We conduct analysis on the resilience of other exposed companies’ (such as those within the financial sector) to climate related events and take appropriate action. Recognising the specifics of the asset class, CCLA does not provide direct capital through our Fixed Interest Funds to companies that derive more than 10% of their revenue from the extraction and/or refining of fossil fuels. In extremis, this rule can be overridden if the proceeds of the fixed interest security are explicitly tied to assisting the company in transitioning to a ‘net zero’ economy. Portfolio Level Risk Control: We also seek to control the aggregate levels of climate risk within our clients’ portfolios. We implement strict rules to ensure that the aggregate Carbon Footprint of all CCLA equity portfolio is not higher than that of the MSCI World Index and stress test our portfolios against IEA scenarios bi-annually. Stewardship and the Low Carbon Transition: We recognise that the transition to a low carbon economy will be complex and take place over multiple decades. We also recognise that active ownership by investors can play a significant role in the management of climate related risk management. For this reason, we have an active climate stewardship programme. As part of this approach, investment in companies in the most exposed sectors (such as those involved in the extraction or in the generation of electricity from ‘fossil fuels’) or where we have identified significant concerns about the management of climate related risk is subject to ongoing productive engagement. We also conduct routine engagement with companies operating in other sectors identified by the recent Taskforce on Climate Related Financial Disclosures. All engagement activity is monitored by CCLA’s Ethical and Responsible Investment Committee and poor corporate responses can, in extremis, lead to us reconsidering continued investment. Supporting Progressive Legislation: We believe that progressive legislation will be essential if we are to accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy. For this reason, we are members of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change and seek to support other initiatives that advocate for appropriate climate related public policy including the UK Government’s Powering Past Coal Alliance. Accelerating the Transition to a Low Carbon Economy: We also seek to benefit from the opportunities posed by the transition to the low carbon economy. We actively seek to invest in companies that meet our investment risk and return requirements and provide a significant environmental benefit. We have set an aspirational target to dedicate 5% of the capital of the COIF Charities Ethical Investment Fund to such investments, and these opportunities identified tend to also be allocated to our other multi-asset funds. Implementation of the Climate Change and Investment Policy: CCLA’s Chief Investment Officer is accountable for the Climate Change and Investment Policy. He is assisted in this role by the Head of Ethical and Responsible Investment. Regular oversight is provided by CCLA’s Ethical and Responsible Investment Committee, which monitors and approves the implementation of the policy twice per year. The COIF, CBF and LAMIT Trustee Boards and CCLA’s Company Board receive an annual update on our management of climate related risk. Regular highlights of our approach to managing the risks and opportunities associated with climate change and the transition to a low carbon economy are reported to clients quarterly. A full overview of our approach is included in our annual Responsible Investment Report. CCLA Investment Management Email Print OUR POLICIES Anti-bribery and corruption statement Best Execution Policy: Cash Funds – UK Money Markets CCLA Modern Slavery Statement CCLA voting guidelines Climate change and investment policy Cluster munitions and landmines policy Conflicts of interest policy Engagement Policy Environmental policy Order execution policy Pillar 3 Disclosures Privacy policy Remuneration policy Website terms of use policy Click the Keep in Touch button to receive market updates, insights and news from CCLA. SITE Home About CCLA Investment solutions Client resources Contact us HELPFUL LINKS Sitemap Processing times Pricing and valuation tool European MIFID Template (2019) European MIFID Template (2018) European MIFID Template (2020) Complaints Policy Announcements Assessment of Value RTS 28 Disclosures Vacancies SFDR Disclosure Report OUR POLICIES Anti-bribery and corruption statement Best Execution Policy: Cash Funds – UK Money Markets CCLA Modern Slavery Statement CCLA voting guidelines Climate change and investment policy Cluster munitions and landmines policy Conflicts of interest policy Engagement Policy Environmental policy Order execution policy Pillar 3 Disclosures Privacy policy Remuneration policy Website terms of use policy CCLA Investment Management Limited (registered in England and Wales, number 2183088) and CCLA Fund Managers Limited (registered in England and Wales, number 8735639) are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. © CCLA Investment Management Limited 2021. All rights reserved. Terms and conditions CCLA Website Terms of Use Welcome to CCLA's website for: fund management services for CCLA Funds (details of and documentation relating to all CCLA Funds is available on CCLA’s website); and discretionary investment management services for individual client portfolios. This page provides you with information about CCLA and the legal terms and conditions (Terms of Use or Terms) on which you can access and use this website. By using or accessing any part of this website, you confirm that you accept these Terms of Use and that you agree to comply with them. Please read these Terms of Use carefully and make sure that you understand them before using this website. If you do not wish to be bound by these Terms you must not use or access this website. Where necessary, we may amend these Terms of Use from time to time by updating this page. We therefore recommend that you check this page periodically to ensure that you understand the Terms which will apply from time to time. 1. About us (CCLA) 1.1 Any reference to CCLA or we/us on this website (including these Terms of Use) means CCLA Investment Management Limited and/or CCLA Fund Managers Limited (as applicable). 1.2 CCLA Investment Management Limited (CCLA IM) is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 2183088. It is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), and is entered on the Financial Services Register under registration number 119281. 1.3 CCLA Fund Managers Limited (CCLA FM) is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 8735639.It is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under FSMA and is entered on the Financial Services Register under registration number 611707. 1.4 The registered office of CCLA IM and CCLA FM is Senator House, 85 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4ET.You may also contact CCLA by emailing clientservices@ccla.co.uk. 2. Who may use this website 2.1 The information on this website is intended for investors and prospective investors in the CCLA Funds and or clients or prospective clients of CCLA's services. Only certain types of investor are eligible to invest in the CCLA Funds (in summary these are charities and local authorities and certain of the CCLA Funds are restricted to particular types of these investors). Charities for these purposes are charities or charitable organisations registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales, or charities exempt from registration, or other persons eligible to participate in collective investment schemes constituted under the Church Funds Investment Measure 1958, section 24 of the Charities Act 1993 (now amended to section 96 of the Charities Act 2011), or section 25 of the Charities Act 1993 (now amended to 100 of the Charities Act 2011), or equivalent organisations in Scotland or Northern Ireland. Local authorities for these purposes are local authorities as defined in section 23 of the Local Government Act 2003. 2.2 Please ensure that you understand whether or not you are an eligible investor in respect of the CCLA Funds, investments and investment services referred to on this website. 3. The purpose of this website 3.1 This website is for information purposes only and is intended as a general introduction to CCLA and the Funds it manages and/or provides investment management services to. The website content and any products and/or services described within it are subject to change without notice. 3.2 Nothing contained on this website constitutes the provision of investment, tax, legal or other advice. This website should not be regarded as constituting a distribution or an offer or solicitation to sell shares or units in any of the funds managed by CCLA outside the UK. Any opinions expressed on individual funds, services or products represent our views at the time of preparation and should not be interpreted as a personal recommendation to buy or sell any of the investments that may be referred to. 3.3 In using this website you may navigate between different pages which relate to different Funds. Each webpage will clearly identify the Fund to which it relates and bespoke information presented on each webpage will relate to the identified Fund. 4. Risk warning 4.1 The value of the CCLA Funds’ units and/or shares and the income from them can fall as well as rise and an investor may not get back the amount originally invested. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. 4.2 Please refer to the Funds’ individual scheme particulars or prospectus for an overview of the investment risks identified by CCLA and the applicable terms and conditions for investing in the Funds, including rules concerning when sums invested may be realised by the investor. Any estimates of future capital or income returns or details of past performance on this website are for information purposes and are not to be relied on as a guide to future performance. 4.3 Persons who do not have professional experience in matters relating to investments are strongly encouraged to consult with a financial adviser before making any investment decision. 5. Complaints and compensation 8.1 All complaints will be handled in accordance with CCLA’s Complaints Policy which can be found at https://www.ccla.co.uk/helpful-links/ccla-complaints-policy. If either CCLA IM or CCLA FM cannot meet its obligations (for example, where it has stopped trading and there are insufficient assets to meet its obligations), investors may be eligible to claim compensation up to a maximum of £85,000 from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. There are limits on who is eligible to claim and which funds are covered. For further information about the Financial Services Compensation Scheme please refer to www.fscs.org.uk or phone 0800 678 1100. 6. CCLA's liability 6.1 We give no warranty or representation and accept no liability for the accuracy, completeness or appropriateness of the information and material available on this website. Your use of any information or materials is entirely at your own risk and we accept no liability for any damage or loss including loss of profit whether direct, indirect or consequential in respect of the use of this website or its content; however, we do not exclude or restrict any liability that we may have under FSMA. 6.2 Due to the nature of the Internet, errors, interruptions and delays may occur at any time. Accordingly, this website is provided on an "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" basis without any warranties of any kind. We shall have no liability, contingent or otherwise, or any responsibility whatsoever, for any interruption in availability of this website regardless of whether the connection or communication service is provided by CCLA or a third party service provider. 6.3 Transmission of information via the Internet is not completely secure and we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to this website. Any transmission is at your own risk. We will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access and we will do our best to protect your information (including personal data). However, we accept no liability in the unlikely event of a breach of our secure computer servers. 6.4 We will use reasonable endeavours to ensure that this website does not contain or promulgate any viruses or other malicious code. However, it is recommended that you should virus check all materials downloaded from this website. We will not be liable for any viruses, code, files or programs designed to interrupt, restrict, destroy or otherwise compromise the integrity of the website or any hardware on which it is hosted. We exclude to the fullest extent permitted by applicable laws all liability in connection with any damage or loss caused by computer viruses or other malicious code originating or contracted from this website. 7. Third party websites 7.1 This website may provide links to certain websites sponsored and maintained by third parties. CCLA is not responsible for the accuracy of information contained within websites provided by third parties and makes no representations concerning the content of such third party websites. The fact that CCLA may provide a link to another website does not constitute an endorsement, authorisation, sponsorship, or affiliation by CCLA with respect to that website, its owners, or its providers. You will be responsible for complying with the terms and conditions of use for any linked website. 8. Copyright and trade marks 8.1 CCLA is the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights in this website, and in the material published on it. Those works are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All such rights are reserved. 8.2 You must not use any part of the materials on this website for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so from us or our licensors. 8.3 No use of CCLA's name, logos and/or other trademarks (whether registered or unregistered) may be made by you without separate express written agreement being given by us, which shall be at our sole discretion. 9. Data protection 9.1 We will hold any personal information that you may provide to us through our CCLA website in confidence and in accordance with CCLA’s Privacy Notice and current Data Protection Legislation. CCLA is the data controller of any such information for these purposes. 9.2 You agree that the CCLA may process your personal data to: (i) confirm your identity and carry out background checks (which may involve sharing your personal data with third parties such as credit reference agencies); (ii) provide our services to you; (iii) follow up with you after you request information; (iv) comply with any requirement of any applicable statute, regulation, Financial Conduct Authority Rule and good practice and to fulfil our obligations under any reporting agreement entered into with any tax authority or revenue service(s); (v) prevent and detect abuse of our services or any of our rights and to protect our (and others’) property and rights; (vi) contact you by post, e-mail or telephone to bring to your attention additional products or services which may be of interest to you (you may inform CCLA at any time if you do not want to receive such communications); and (vii) as otherwise agreed by you. Failure to provide the personal data requested (or to agree to the above or below uses) may mean that CCLA is unable to provide the services requested. 9.3 CCLA may pass your personal data to any other firm within CCLA but will not pass on any personal data to any other third party except: (i) where, in relation to the performance of its services to you, CCLA sub-contracts part of the services or any support services; (ii) as agreed by you; or (iii) where required to do so for regulatory purposes as set out above. 9.4 CCLA may in exceptional circumstances transmit and process your personal data outside of the UK in countries that do not provide the same level of data protection as the UK. In such unusual circumstances, you agree that it may do so subject to CCLA endeavouring to ensure that the arrangements comply with the standards required by the UK Information Commissioner. 9.5 Your use of this website (and your interest in particular webpages or particular CCLA products or services) may be monitored by CCLA. CCLA may keep records of all business transactions for at least five years. 9.6 By accepting these Terms of Use, you agree to the processing and disclosure of personal information as above. You are entitled to request details of information we may hold about you and to require us to correct any inaccuracies in your personal data. CCLA will treat all clients' records as confidential and so reserve the right to provide copies of your particular record, rather than allow access to files which may contain information about other clients. If you wish to access copies of your personal data or ask about the above arrangements, please contact CCLA's Data Protection Adviser at CCLA Investment Management Limited, Senator House, 85 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4ET. 9.7 Full details of CCLA’s Privacy Notice is available on CCLA’s website. Full details of CCLA’s Data Protection Policy, are available on request. 10. Cookies 10.1 This website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of the website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse the website and also allows us to improve the website. 10.2 When you confirm you have read this page we will place a cookie on your computer to recognise you and prevent this page reappearing should you access this website on future occasions. The cookie will expire after six months, or sooner should there be a change to this important information. 10.3 You can activate the setting on your Internet browser to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your Internet browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of the website. To help us provide a more personalised viewing experience we recommend that you view this website with a JavaScript enabled browser. 10.4 For more information about cookies, including how to set your Internet browser to reject cookies, please visit www.allaboutcookies.org. 11. Recording of communications Your telephone calls and electronic communications with CCLA may be recorded. You agree that CCLA may deliver copies or transcripts of such recording to any court or competent regulatory authority. Such records of conversation and/or communications with you will be available on request for a period of five years (or, where requested by the FCA, for a period of up to seven years) from the date when a record is made. 12. General 12.1 Each of the paragraphs of these Terms of Use operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful or unenforceable, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect. 12.2 If we fail to insist that you perform any of your obligations under these Terms of Use, or if we do not enforce our rights against you, or if we delay in doing so, that will not mean that we have waived our rights against you and will not mean that you do not have to comply with those obligations. 12.3 These Terms of Use are governed by English law and are available only in English. You and we both agree that the courts of England and Wales will have non-exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with these Terms of Use. 18 August 2021 Accept Decline