Anthos is committed to upholding the values of sustainability, human dignity, and good corporate citizenship, but what does this look like in terms of practical implementation?


Sustainability is about our commitment to keeping global temperatures in line with a 1.5-degree Celcius pathway. Human dignity is about our commitment to respecting human rights across all our business activities, the majority of which means our investments. Good corporate citizenship is about how we invest responsibly and how we always strive to improve.


2022 was a whirlwind of a year in the world of responsible investing (RI). From the implementation of the SFDR and continuing confusion over definitions, thresholds and 'ESG versus impact', to accusations of greenwashing, and even heated anti-ESG discussions in the US, the industry experienced it all. At Anthos, we believe this should be expected of an industry that is growing in maturity.

Jelena Stamenkova van Rumpt

Director Responsible Investment

LinkedIn

“With time, clarity emerges. Till then, our progress thrives on a well-defined vision bolstered by tools and industry-approved standards. Distinguishing between sustainable risk assessment for portfolios and a portfolio's impact on the world becomes the foremost inquiry in policy execution.”

With time, clarity emerges. Till then, our progress thrives on a well-defined vision bolstered by tools and industry-approved standards. Distinguishing between sustainable risk assessment for portfolios and a portfolio's impact on the world becomes the foremost inquiry in policy execution.


At Anthos, we firmly believe in continuous learning and integrating new knowledge into our investment process. In 2022, we embarked on an exciting RI roadmap, with the motto: “going deeper and further.” It was about taking our efforts to the next level, moving on from the process improvements we made last year towards deepening the quality of our implementation of themes like climate, impact measurement & management, and SFDR. We rolled our sleeves up to understand how to harness data & technology to advance our understanding of the impact of our portfolios and improve the depth of our client reporting. We also delved into human rights, making our first steps towards understanding how to improve our efforts to respect and implement human rights in our investments.  

Climate and human rights speak to our values of sustainability and human dignity. You will find detailed information about our commitments to both in this report. For our third value, good corporate citizenship, we are proud of the strides we’ve made so far as we consider all the efforts in our RI roadmap as meeting this value. That said, we want to solidify our efforts more concretely in 2023.


Assessing progress is vital, and we have identified and joined the relevant networks, working groups, global frameworks and datasets to ensure our efforts are based on industry-tested practices that are focused on change in the real economy. We strive to align all of these memberships and policy engagements with our RI policy and our values.

To communicate progress concisely, we emphasise our ESG and IMP scorecard. In essence, this powerful tool measures two critical things: the level and sophistication of ESG integration for each manager we invest in; and the impact each manager is striving to achieve with its strategy based on the Impact Management Project’s ABC framework (Acting to avoid harm, Benefitting stakeholders, Contributing to solutions, or May/Does cause harm). Our clients also find this tool valuable for understanding the responsible investment strategies underpinning their portfolios.


In 2022, we went “deeper and further” with our responsible investment ambition. We increased the coverage of assets mapped by our ESG and IMP methodology significantly, providing us with a clearer picture of the level of ESG integration and impact intention across our investment platform. Stewardship activities were strengthened through focused engagement plans with our most material managers. We conducted our first double materiality assessment, aligning our work with the expectations of our stakeholders.


Data and technology advancements allowed us to onboard new datasets, helping us map our investments to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). I was particularly proud of our firm's efforts on human rights, reflecting our value of human dignity. Through collaboration with experts and colleagues across departments, we are building awareness and understanding of how to invest in a way that respects and upholds these essential rights for all. 


Despite the progress, 2022 presented challenges for investments. We observed a disparity between ESG performance and financial performance, and meeting the requirements of SFDR proved challenging. We hope for clearer guidance from regulators to ensure consistent and transparent reporting practices. One concerning observation was some funds downgrading their ESG labels and SFDR classifications, obscuring the potential for positive impact. 


We think these challenges will remain and probably worsen before the industry has a good grasp of how to measure, assess, and invest for impact. We always knew it would be a complex task. All the same, balancing what is right to do and the easier option can sometimes feel burdensome and overwhelming, especially for investors whose capital is at risk. At Anthos, we use our RI strategy to cut through the immediate and problematic to envision what investments today are creating long-term and sustainable value.


We hope you agree that this report showcases our commitment to transparency and improvement. We value your honest feedback and encourage dialogue and collaboration as we strive to help our clients allocate capital more responsibly. Achieving our responsible investment ambition is no easy task, but we are dedicated to learning, sharing, and making positive contributions as we go.


Thank you for your continued support and engagement.


Sincerely,

Jelena Stamenkova van Rumpt

Director Responsible Investment

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