ESG in practice

ESG in practice

Positive impact through impact investing 

Our Impact Investing Framework complements our Responsible Investment Policy by focusing specifically on how we want to create positive impact. We deliberately allocate capital to achieve measurable positive change in the areas of climate, nature, health, and human rights.

Driving change through engagement and voting rights

Through active ownership, we use our influence as an investor to encourage companies to act responsibly. Our goal is to be a constructive partner that can contribute to long-term success while driving the transition to a more sustainable and inclusive world.

Engagement

Namens onze klanten gaan we op drie verschillende manieren in dialoog (engagement) met bedrijven: bilateraal; via samenwerkingsinitiatieven met andere gelijkgestemde investeerders/stakeholders en via onze engagement serviceprovider EOS at Federated Hermes Limited (Hermes EOS).

Engagement through collaborative initiatives 

  • Climate change and energy transition: The Dutch Climate Coalition (DCC)
  • Biodiversity and natural resources: Nature Action 100+; Ceres; Chemsec; IMVO 2.0
  • Health and well-being: Health Engagement Initiative (HEAL); Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNi); Access to Medicine Foundation (AMF); IMVO 2.0
  • Human rights: The Platform Living Wage Financials (PLWF); Investor Alliance for Human Rights (IAHR)

Engagement via Hermes EOS 

Hermes EOS is our engagement service provider. This means that Hermes EOS, on behalf of a.s.r. asset management, engages with companies on various ESG topics that are in line with our policy. For more information, read the EOS Hermes annual report 2024 a.s.r. asset management.  

Voting rights 

We believe that voting is a crucial tool for influencing corporate governance and sustainability practices at companies. That is why we exercise our clients' voting rights in a way that reinforces a.s.r. asset management's engagement activities and supports our policy objectives. We use a proxy voting service provider, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), to vote on our behalf at shareholder meetings. For more information, read our voting policy and see the ISS Proxy Voting Dashboard.

Reducing negative impact by setting clear boundaries   

We strive to minimize the negative impact on people and the planet with our investment decisions. We do this by setting clear boundaries and minimum standards that all investments must meet. This applies to both companies and countries. We apply exclusions to prevent our clients' money from being invested in activities that cause serious harm to people and the planet. We have defined exclusion rules relating to various topics, see Responsible Investment Policy. These rules apply to all investments we manage.