Client expectations and regulation have changed at a pace and to a depth that couldn’t have been anticipated. What was market leading two years ago is market baseline today. Many organizations who already had plans to evolve their ESG & Responsible Investment capabilities are realizing they need to accelerate and aim higher in what they are trying to achieve.
Those who will remain relevant are investing substantial sums in transforming their whole organization, and it is crucial that those investments target the right outcomes and achieve them efficiently across Corporate Strategy, Clients, Investments, Regulation, and their Foundations.
Our ESG transformation framework
Our proprietary ESG & Responsible Investment transformation framework takes a whole-of-organization approach, informed by our extensive experience in delivering strategic, large-scale change with investment managers.
To achieve success, every team in your organization must pull in the same direction under a common vision.
If you don’t know where you’re going, every road will lead to nowhere
You need to understand where you are today, and define how you want to differentiate yourself from your peers, with input and buy-in across your core functions from the outset. We have created a market benchmarking framework that assesses organizations from ‘limited’ to ‘aspirational’ across our 5 dimensions, including:
Regulation
What is on the agenda of regulators and policy makers in your jurisdictions? What regulations are your clients subject to? What voluntary codes and industry standards are you signed up to, or should you be? What are the practical implications for your business?
Clients
What are your clients asking for now? What do you think they will want in the future? What products and propositions are you offering? How are your relationship managers engaging with your clients?
Investments
How does sustainability feature in your investment philosophy across desks? How are the investment teams working today? How is ESG embedded in research, portfolio management and active ownership? How is ESG influencing decision making?
You can read more about our ESG Healthcheck here.
A marathon, not a sprint
- Design the target state ESG & Responsible Investment operating model, with clear accountabilities and responsibilities
- Define your brand & market strategy across your entire investment range
- Agree desirable levels of alignment across investment desks
- Create a realistic implementation roadmap
- Mobilize nimble governance to successfully guide the transformation
Building flexible foundations
Regardless of the size of your ambition, the pace at which the market is evolving means that investment in flexibility is required, in addition to achieving the defined target state. To future-proof your investment embedding ESG & Responsible Investment in your organization’s foundations is crucial:
- Define the data strategy and technology architecture to support ESG integration at scale
- Build your data analytics & reporting platform to deliver insights efficiently and at scale to thousands of clients
- Harmonize minimum standards of compliance across jurisdictions
- Grow capability in your people across the relevant functions in your organization
- Monitor outcomes achieved against evolving market standards
Where do we begin?
Understanding how you rank against your peers and defining the key principles to underpin your vision is key to setting the right priorities and executing against them. If you want to understand how your organization compares to the market, you can contact us for an initial conversation.
