Cazenove Capital, the leading wealth management arm of Schroders, published its Climate Transition Action Plan today. We are one of the first UK wealth managers to provide a comprehensive and detailed plan for achieving our long-term climate goals. It reflects our distinctive investment approach, encompassing the use of third-party funds as well as direct investment in equities, bonds and alternatives.
The plan sets out in detail how we will align all our discretionary assets under management to net zero by 2050 or sooner. It also highlights the growing investment risks of climate change as well as the opportunities that may arise from the transition.
Catherine Hampton, Sustainable Investment Lead, Cazenove Capital commented:
“We want to transition our clients’ investments towards net zero because we believe that the world will significantly change over the next 30 years. Not doing so would likely mean losing out on opportunities and exposing our clients to greater risk.”
The plan is consistent with the net zero commitment of our parent-company Schroders, a founding signatory to the Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative. We will report on our progress against the Climate Transition Action Plan on an annual basis.
Mary-Anne Daly, Chief Executive Officer, Cazenove Capital commented:
“We have a responsibility to position client portfolios for the future. Understanding and addressing climate risk is a fundamental part of this – and indeed our fiduciary duty. We believe that the new climate change strategy that we are announcing today will be key to delivering successful long-term performance for clients.”
Caspar Rock, Chief Investment Officer, Cazenove Capital commented:
“The transition to a lower carbon global economy will impact both our macro-outlook and our bottom-up fundamental company analysis. To ignore this transition is to ignore seismic shifts in the way the global economy operates, ultimately affecting the ability to protect and grow our clients’ wealth.”
Using our influence
Cazenove Capital will engage with asset managers and companies to support their decarbonisation goals.
Currently, approximately 60% of the third-party managers we work with have made a net zero commitment at the corporate level. However, a smaller proportion have actually implemented these commitments into their underlying funds. Our aim is to see the number of firms with a formal net zero commitment reach 100% in time. Just as importantly, we want to see demonstrable progress on the reflection of these commitments at the strategy level.
Innovating for a sustainable future
Cazenove Capital is seeing a growing desire among its clients, including private clients, family offices and charities, to decarbonise their portfolios. In response, we are committed to expanding the range of climate-focused products in both listed and private markets.
We currently manage over £2 billion in strategies which have a specific allocation to impactful climate solutions. In our sustainable and ethical strategies, which avoid areas of environmental or social harm, we manage over £8.7 billion as at October 2023.
