Stewardship - combining ethical investment with environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors
Launched in 1984, the Stewardship funds have a proud heritage as the UK’s first ethical fund range. The philosophy behind the funds is and always has been to guide capital allocation responsibly, including or excluding companies based on what they do and how they do it.
The funds are managed by Aviva Investors, and the team applies screens to the Stewardship funds to exclude businesses and sectors that could be deemed harmful to the world and its people. Instead, investments are made in businesses which can show they are contributing to one or more of the Aviva Investors' sustainability pillars: Climate, Earth and People.
The Stewardship funds are available to members in any of our workplace pensions.
The value of a pension can go down a well as up, so members could get back less than paid in.
Sustainability pillars - climate, earth and people
The three sustainability pillars are underpinned by Aviva Investors' investment themes. These reflect what Aviva Investors believes to be the most important sustainability issues of our time and we show these below. They are rooted in the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which offer a global view of the world’s most pressing challenges and what sustainable investment looks like. These pillars serve as the foundation for how the team assesses which companies are suitable for investment.
Aviva Investors believes this approach will help show that investing in companies with sustainable business practices, which contribute to a more sustainable world, is just as important as excluding harmful companies from the funds.
Investment themes
| Climate | Earth | People |
| Sustainable/alternative energy | Sustainable water services | Affordable housing |
| Electrification | Sanitation | Access to nutrition |
| Sustainable buildings and infrastructure | Circular economy and waste management | Healthcare |
| Sustainable transport | Recycling solutions | Access to education |
| Sustainable tourism | Sustainable agriculture | Access to finance |
| Disaster risk reduction and resilience | Sustainable forestry | Corporate responsibility and ethics |
| Response to climate change | Sustainable oceans | Human capital management |
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| Nature (biodiversity) | Diversity, equity and inclusion |
| Land and ocean use |
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| Natural resources |
What are the Stewardship funds?
There are five Stewardship funds covering international equities, UK equities and fixed income.
- Stewardship International Equity Fund
- Stewardship Bond Fund
- Stewardship Managed Fund
- Stewardship UK Equity Fund
- Stewardship UK Equity Income Fund
We also provide the Stewardship default strategy, which we launched in July 2019 to let customers invest in the Stewardship funds throughout their retirement journey, from start to finish. The Stewardship default strategy uses the Stewardship International Equity, Stewardship Managed and Stewardship Bond Funds from when investors join the pension scheme to when members reach their selected retirement date.
We want our customers to be confident – wherever they are in their retirement journey – their money is helping to make a positive difference and helping to create a more sustainable future as well as delivering a return. The Aviva Investors’ Public Markets ESG team and the Sustainable Investments Team work with the Funds’ Portfolio Managers.
Engaging with other stakeholders for greater impact at Aviva Investors
As well as using their voice as a shareholder to vote for change at company meetings, Aviva Investors also engages with businesses on thematic issues for the Stewardship funds, such as climate change. Aviva Investors talks to companies to encourage them to enact the best possible sustainability practices, expecting to see a clear timeline for progress and outcomes. Their current key priorities when engaging with businesses are the cost-of-living crisis, transitioning to a low carbon economy and reversing nature loss.
Alongside the businesses they work with, Aviva Investors also engages other stakeholders, including governments, other asset managers, and charities.
Read more about how Aviva Investors have engaged with businesses in the Stewardship fund annual report.
We’re committed to playing our part in the larger global ecosystem
We’re working towards our sustainability ambitions as a company, where we have control over Aviva’s operations and our influence on our supply chain. But we recognise that when it comes to decarbonising the economy in which we operate and invest, we only one part of a far larger global ecosystem.
There are limits to our ability to influence other organisations and governments, but we remain focused on the task. We’re absolutely committed to playing our part in the collective effort to enable the global transition to a more sustainable future.
Find out more about our climate goals and our sustainability ambition and action.
The Aviva Investors' Sustainable Investments team
A dedicated team of more than 40 sustainable investment analysts plays a key role in the Stewardship funds, working collaboratively across Aviva Investors, sharing their research and analysis with the Portfolio Managers. The analysts in the Sustainable Investments team cover the three core pillars of the Stewardship approach: Climate, Earth and People.
The Public Markets ESG Team also sits within the wider function and manages ESG risks in the investment process as well as engagement.
Meet our people
The Sustainable Investments team
The Sustainable Investments team provides research and insight to help inform our investment decisions.
Sam Tripuraneni
Head of Sustainable Investments
Agneta Bamania
Sustainable Investments Director
Luisa Jobson
Sustainable Investment Analyst
Prince Marapao-Gittings
Sustainable Investment Analyst
The Stewardship Investments team
The Stewardship Investments team manages the Stewardship funds.
Matt Bennison
Head of UK Active Equities – Portfolio Manager – Stewardship UK Equity Fund and Stewardship UK Equity Income Fund
Charlotte Meyrick
Co-Portfolio Manager – Stewardship UK Equity Fund and Stewardship UK Equity Income Fund
Edward Kevis
Portfolio Manager – Stewardship International Equity Fund
Jonathan Toub
Co-Portfolio Manager – Stewardship International Equity Fund
Thomas Chinery
Senior Portfolio Manager – Stewardship Bond Fund
Elmarie Matheou
Co-Portfolio Manager – Stewardship Bond Fund
Useful information
These funds do not have a sustainability label.
Although we use ESG criteria when choosing areas for investments, it is important to note that ESG is different to sustainability labels.
Sustainability labelling has been introduced to facilitate sustainability comparisons between different investment funds. Sustainability labels are independently assessed and an addition to Aviva ESG criteria.
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