Stewardship & ESG
Our Stewardship policy, Engagement and Voting framework and examples, PRI Assessment Reports, and Voting Disclosure documents
Stewardship
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) analysis is integrated into Aberforth’s investment process alongside all other matters relevant to a company’s valuation. The main influence on the composition of the portfolio is the prioritisation of companies with the highest upside from the prevailing stockmarket price to Aberforth’s target price. Aberforth’s approach is rooted in the view that a company’s system of governance is crucial to how all risks and opportunities – ESG and others – are identified and managed.
Our detailed Stewardship Policy, which sets out Aberforth’s compliance with the UK Stewardship Code, is available to download as a document in the section below.
This document reflects Aberforth’s approach to stewardship and should be considered together with the documents listed in the table.
Please Contact Us if you have any Stewardship or ESG queries.
Stewardship documents
Engagement & Voting
Aberforth’s purpose is to deliver superior long-term returns for its clients. Thoughtful engagement and voting are likely to improve investment outcomes. Any issue relevant to a company’s value can justify engagement and inform voting intentions.
Aberforth’s clients are part owners of investee companies. Ownership entails responsible consideration of a company’s affairs and voting on all matters at all meetings. It also entails regular engagement with directors, who should uphold good governance and promote the success of the company.
Effective engagement is a two-way process. It requires a constructive and responsible approach from Aberforth and timely consultation by boards. Aberforth’s engagement is motivated not by activism but by looking after the interests of its clients.
Aberforth’s engagement and voting framework, as well as examples, can be accessed here:
Below you will find information on our voting activity. We disclose our voting record for the previous 12 months on a quarterly basis and the latest update covers votes to 31 December 2024. We publish our voting records in this way to be open and accountable to our clients and to meet industry best-practice standards. Our policy is to vote on every resolution put to shareholders of our investee companies.
| Aberforth investee company voting | 12 Months to 31 December 2024 |
|---|---|
| Shareholder meetings at which our clients' shares were voted | 101 |
| Shareholder meetings at which our clients' shares were voted against or abstained (1) | 13 |
| Number of resolutions voted | 1,591 |
| Number of resolutions voted against | 6 |
| Number of resolutions abstained | 15 |
(1) One or more resolutions
External Assessments
UK Stewardship Code 2020
Aberforth Partners has been a signatory of the Financial Reporting Council’s UK Stewardship Code 2020 since its inception in 2021.
PRI Assessment report
Aberforth has been a PRI (Principles for Responsible Investment) signatory since 2016 and our latest Assessment report and Transparency report are available to download from the Literature Library.
These reports are compiled by the United Nations-backed PRI on an annual basis to assess the sustainability credentials of firms in the investment industry, in order to promote its key objectives. It has six core principles, led by a commitment to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in the investment process and the use of active ownership to drive change.
For 2021 the reporting framework and assessment methodology was changed in order to better reflect the state of the responsible investment market as well as future advancements. The PRI does not provide an overall score for organisations.
If you have any queries regarding our Assessment Report, please Contact Us.
More information about the PRI can be found on their website at www.unpri.org.
Governance and Corporate Responsibility
The document below provides details of Aberforth Partners’ approach to governance and corporate responsibility.
Please Contact Us if you have any related queries.